Best Mission Ever
by Bracket the Indecie
Summary: Claire works for The Company and is sent to London to investigate suspected Special activity. While there she finds more than she expected, so do 'Sylar' and Mohinder. Violence M rating , emotional trauma and a little language. Set 3 years after S3.
1. Chapter 1 Through London

Things you need to know: Set after season three end, obviously. Claire works for The Company. They all think Sylar is dead after the plan to capture him worked. Nathan came back to life after they gave him some of Claire's blood. Angela is off the radar, living quietly somewhere (oh holy Jeezes!!!!).

Warnings: mild ooc, oc,

**Chapter One - Through London (Life After Terminal Five)**

Best. Mission. Ever.

'Go to London. Investigate a nightclub. Suspected Special activity.' Were her orders, and damn was this the best mission ever! She took two fellow agents with her; Kelly, a Special with the ability to manipulate emotional states and West. That's right, he'd come on board as soon as Claire had tracked him down and laid out the plan for the reformed Company. It wasn't easy, persuading him to be a part of the organisation that was close enough to the one that abducted him. Claire couldn't help a small bounce of excitement as she stepped off the plane at Heathrow. She had tried to keep reminding herself that she was here for work and not all play. Though she certainly planned on doing a lot of playing. West rolled his eyes at her, she had spoken of nothing else the past couple of weeks and had gone on two shopping sprees getting new clothes so she would 'fit in' at the club. Her Dad had had to be a little more stern with her on the 'all work and no play' front, but in some ways he was glad she was able to go and do something at least vaguely normal for a while.

Noah was proud of his little girl, and though Claire had asked him to stop calling her that a hundred and one times, he couldn't think of her as anything else. She had matured (for the most part) into a determined and successful Company agent who was not only getting quite good at apprehending dangerous Specials, but was doing some good work with those who weren't a threat, who just needed a bit of support. He found this was an increasingly large department, and sending out pairs of agents to help people learn to control and use their abilities was taking up far more time and manpower than he thought it would at this stage, it had surprised him how receptive people had been to it. He thought he might like to have Claire take that department as her own one day, but for now she was content and eager still to work in the field. He said his prayers every night like a good boy and thanked each and every star he could see out of his window that she had not turned out like Elle. He was terrified when Claire had first insisted on getting onto the Company payroll that she would slowly take the slippery slope to sociopath-city, but it had seemed not. Sure, she was hard as nails now, but not a sadist or conscienceless brat as Elle was. He always admonished Bob's parenting skills as a little 'p.s.' on the end of his prayers.

Her first big mission. Daddy's Claire-bear was going out into the big wide world (and by that he meant Europe) and doing something that she couldn't just come back home from if it proved to be a little difficult. She had tried to insist on many occasions that she and West hadn't really gotten back together (just no, not yet), and Kelly would be her chaperone. 'She'll turn him gay if he tries anything.' Claire had argued. It had worked. They were now stepping onto English tarmac (though it was no different to American) and she smiled, widely.

"You alright? You look like a mad scientist whose plan to conquer the world has just come to fruition." West asked, upon seeing the slightly maniacal grin on her face.

"Best. Mission. Ever." She repeated. This had become something of a mantra for her.

"Claire, this is a mission remember, not a clubbing holiday." Kelly scolded her.

"I know, I know." This had always been the reply too. West wondered whether she had actually thought about the mission. "Investigate the club and see how many Specials, what they can do, approximate geographical distribution, discover any organisations attached to them and if any pose a threat to the populace or revealing their existence to the unsuspecting world.

Eventually they got to the conveyor belts of luggage and kept a beady lookout for their cases. Claire kept her eyes fixed on the faded belt and drifted off into space, she knew she would wake up when she saw her case – it was bright pink after all. She pictured herself in different outfits, dancing, coming up with several hundred different ideas on what the club would look like on the inside, everything from a dirty dungeon to a massive state-of-the-art warehouse. She didn't realise how long she had been dreaming because eventually she brought herself out of it and looked around to see West wasn't there, and, come to think of it, nor was Kelly. She panicked for a moment and looked around. There were no more bags on the belt, and her flight wasn't even registering on the board above them. She quickly found them arguing with an equally irate clerk behind a desk.

"Hey, what's going on?" She asked innocently, hoping not to get caught out for daydreaming.

"These idiots lost our bags." Kelly snapped and resumed the verbal onslaught and outrage with West, who was a little red in the face.

"I'm sorry, Miss, but we've done everything we can, we seem to be having a few teething problems with the Terminal Five." He explained, and it looked as though he was teething right now, he was deep red and puffed up, grinding his gnashers to try and stop him getting physical.

About three hours later, when another plane from the US landed, they finally got their luggage back and were able to walk out the airport and onto the tube. Kelly was in a foul mood, still not recovered from her argument with the clerk and West shifted uncomfortably on the train.

"What's up with you? Got ants in your pants?" Claire hissed, fed up with the fidgeting.

"Sorry, but this is underground, I like to be able to see sky. Makes me kinda nervous." He said and his knees bounced up and down as though playing some imaginary drum kit. She nodded and tried not to notice it, though it was really bugging her.

The tube took an uncomfortably long time to get to where they were going, especially considering they got off at the wrong stations twice, got lost once, took the wrong line once...the list went on. Needless to say when they checked the address of the hotel given to them by the company suddenly everything looked up, they all thought of nice hot baths and slumping in an easy chair with a stiff drink. Being twenty one Claire could drink in any state, and definitely in England, and she could almost taste the martini now, feel the cool, smooth glass in her hand instead of the rough, hot handle of her suitcase. The hotel was modest, clean and tastefully decorated, if a little plain and small, but she didn't mind. They would only be staying here for a week before they moved into an apartment owned by the Petrelli family, but for some reason wouldn't be available until seven days away. Claire decided not to ask questions from the moment the flat was brought up by Noah and they way Angela pursed her lips sourly. Claire wondered what sordid schemes were run from there, but quickly came to the conclusion that she didn't want to know, especially if she was going to be living there for the next couple of...however long this was going to take. She had known when she accepted the mission that this was probably going to be a long one. Not that she minded, in fact, she preferred it that way. She knew she had work to do, but she took it as payback for all the holidays and breaks she would have had by now like most other normal teenage girls. Ok, she wasn't a teenager any more, but you know what she meant.

They all had rooms next to each other and Claire wheeled in her case, carefully shutting the door, leaving her luggage propped up against said door in case of anyone trying to sneak in (Company training) and did a quick, but thorough search of the room, ensuring all entry and escape routes were covered and there was nothing of suspicion in the room. As usual, the search turned up negative and she took a running jump, belly flopping onto the bed which was surprisingly springy and comfortable. She purred happily to herself and snuggled into the soft sheets, feeling supremely happy. Nothing could take away her happiness at that point.


	2. Chapter 2 Broken Glass

With so many thanks and love to Goggles for going over this for me.

Warnings: mild ooc, more oc's, a wierd oc (get over her now)

**Chapter two - Broken Glass and Special's Only Night**

Claire didn't waver once in her six inch heels and felt truly hyped up as they finally got past the bouncer and headed through the fabled doors and into the arena of sound and movement. The lights pulsated hypnotically to the rhythm of the music and she felt herself begin to sway instinctively to the heavy beat. The club was laid out in approximately design number 172 that Claire had made up on the plane over; two layered, the ground level being a long bar with a few tables in front and shadowy booths around the edge. There were stairs leading down to an enormous dance-floor and large stage area all down in what used to be the basement. The light was everywhere, the sound rippled through her whole body and she leaned on the railings that ran between the stairs, and noted another bar and some tables underneath where she was now, right next to the dance-floor. She took in the sight, hundreds of wildly dancing people, all in colourful and wonderful costumes. She wondered how many of them were Specials and how many of the guys were good-looking. On the stage, doing a live performance, was a woman in a UV dress that played havoc with her eyes, singing covers of well-known dance tracks and a few dancers were on the stages on the main set.

Kelly made a bee-line for a booth from which they would set up their base of operations for tonight, taking their bags and coats and sitting, scowling slightly in the dark corner. West went immediately to 'get to know the locals' and by that he meant chat up the nearest group of girls. Claire was surprised but not surprised at the same time by the ease with which he flirted and became quickly popular with the circle of friends. Kelly frowned when Claire came back with shots of luminous liquid.

"I'm not here on a boozer!" She shouted at Claire, wanting just to get to business.

"Can't hear you!" Claire teased and chinked the tiny glass before downing a shot. She could not get drunk (oh, she would never forget that bottle of tequila), but she liked the taste, the bitter after-taste and the thirty second effect it had on her. Kelly shook her head petulantly when Claire gestured for her to drink. "You'll stick out and then get noticed for all the wrong reasons!" Claire said, shouting into her ear so she could be heard. Kelly rolled her eyes and hesitantly sipped it until it was gone.

"Alcohol makes me lose control after a while! I might put everyone here into a suicidal depression!" She protested when Claire made the gesture to get more drinks. Claire pouted. "Fine, one more, but that's it!" She promised and rolled her eyes again as her partner skipped back to the bar merrily. This time she brought back beers and they had a longer drink. West soon returned, a little flushed from having been dragged onto the dance floor to 'flaunt his funky stuff' to the girls.

"There's about four hundred people down there!" He said, shouting above the music, grinning widely. He was trying to think about work, but the fun was just too much. "Not seen anything Special yet." He reported, trying to at least have something he could tell Noah in his daily report to make it look as though he was doing work. "There's a really weird bouncer down there!" Their hearing was beginning to adjust to the loud music and they could pick up each other's voices better, thank god.

"What do you mean? Like, Special weird?" Kelly asked, beating Claire to it, and she now felt like she was the only one not doing work.

"I dunno. Big woman, muscle, blue tattoos all over her, you can't miss her!" He said. They nodded at each other, the super-secret Company signal for 'let's go check it out gang'. They made their way down the main steps and instinctively scanned the area for anything suspicious and entry/escape routes before joining the main throng of the crowd.

They tried to stay together, keeping a look out for the strange bouncer-lady, but soon the crowd seemed to pull them apart like the debris of a ship wreck. Claire was about to push back to regroup with West, when the crowd erupted in cheers and surged forward, pushing her along with it. She nearly stumbled and fell flat on her face in the bad-idea heels she was wearing, but only by grabbing the person in front of her, who remained oblivious to being used as a rail, did she stay on her feet. The woman in the UV dress had come back on the stage, apparently they'd come in just as she left for her interval.

Claire observed her closely in case it became relevant later (you never know), and committed to memory that she was quite small, a bit like herself, with loosely curled buoyant mahogany hair, not like her, and ... oh holy Jesus what a voice! She stopped all thought as the performer opened her mouth and sent forth wonderful waves of beauty. There was energy and power behind it, and she could do nothing but listen, sway to the tune and eventually her body picked up the pace and began dancing, her mind so enraptured by the vocals to have any say over the wild surrender of her body. She had never enjoyed 'Sing it Back' so much in all her life.

An hour later, the set came to another interval and Claire suddenly snapped out of her trance. She had just somehow had an amazing time, but without really realising it. She looked around for West, remembering that before the woman came on stage she was trying to find him. She saw him up on the balcony, scanning the crowd her, she waved and pushed through the crowd, a large part of which seemed to be all heading to the bar at the same time.

Eventually she made it to their booth and sat down, realising how tired her feet were. The dancing and the voice had made her forget she was in six-inch heels and did NOT dance accordingly. She would definitely have to wear her flats next time. She knew she would be in trouble now.

"Sorry guys, I don't know what happened, one moment I was trying to find West, next minute I know it's an hour later, sorry!" She apologised, mostly to Kelly, hoping she wouldn't get too much of a bothersome scolding.

"It's ok, the same thing happened to us – hypnotised by her voice." Kelly said, her eye was twitching ever so slightly. "My ability, sort of shifted a gear when she sang...like hitting cruise control on a car." She tried to explain. "She experienced several different emotions, but always kept the audience in one – rapture, joy."

"Her name's Melody, she plays here twice a week, Monday nights and Thursday nights." West said, handing out leaflets he'd found downstairs. They scrutinised for a moment.

"I'll go ask at the bar about her, see what they can tell me about her." Claire said and after getting the approving nods from her friends, took up her purse and headed to the bar. She ordered a round of tequilas (she was still not really sure how she felt about that drink), and casually asked about the act.

"She's been here about 6 months. Really talented girl. Works here, trying to get labels interested in her stuff. She does other places, but this is, like, her home. Never met DJ Unknown, just stays hunkered up in the mixing room up top." He jabbed a thump to a small black box on stilts above the balcony on the far side. "Guess, that's why he's unknown." He speculated. He went off to serve another customer. Claire stood and thought for a moment. Suddenly a menacing presence descended on the bar beside her. A large woman, tall and imposing with strong muscles. Her hair was bleach blond short, curling slightly around her ears, gelled back like a boy's and had blue Celtic knot tattoos all over her skin, even on her face, but those looked as though they had been drawn rather than inked. She radiated 'don't funk with me' vibes and Claire took a step away, despite her previous agreement to investigating her. The mysterious woman waved at the barman who nodded with a smile, if not slightly fearful and got a special bottle out of the fridge for her. She bowed her head in appreciation, flipped the cap off with her thumb and took a long draught. Claire's eyes darted over to the cap as it landed with a drowned-out 'chink' on the bar top. It was a metal one, and she flipped it off as though it was plastic pop-lid.

Claire went to go and take the drinks back to Kelly and West when she caused a bit of a scene. Two girls fell over and their drinks smashed on the floor, sending glass everywhere. Unfortunately, she did not stop in time herself and swerved to avoid the mess, only ending up on the floor herself – slashed a few dozen times by tiny fragments of shattered glass. She groaned in pain, and felt a crowd of people descend on them trying to help. She felt a hand around her wrist and which hauled her up onto her feet with little apparent effort – the scary bouncer-lady. She felt herself pulled behind the bar and through the washing room to coffee room and sat on a desk. The woman was already brandishing tweezers and antiseptic wipes before Claire really could establish what had happened.

"How much have you had to drink?" Came a strong Scottish accent, but not so broad as to be unintelligible.

"Not much, a shot and a beer." She said, and jerked her arm away when she came close. Claire panicked, she couldn't show this woman that she could heal! That would ruin everything! Not to mention reveal to a non-Special that she was a regenerator!

"I have to take the glass out." She said in a short, non-argumentative way. Claire made for the door.

"I'll be fine, thanks, I'll just..." She tried, but was dragged back by two impossibly strong hands.

"No. You will sit still until I get this all out." And Claire was helpless, she could not even begin to compete with the strength of the Scary Bouncer Lady as she was quickly being christened in Claire's head, and her voice struck fear in the girl.

She took the first large fragment out and chucked it in a yellow bin and her head turned back to the wound quickly enough to see it close up of its own accord. She looked mildly shocked for a moment and then looked at Claire with a sincere expression.

"Never met a proper healer like you before." She said, returning to her nonplussed face. "How did you know to come here?"

"Friend of a friend kinda thing." Claire improvised quickly. Scary Bouncer Lady was surprised, but not afraid of the healing, so she obviously had experience with Specials. Was she one too? Is that where she was getting all that ungodly strength from?

"At least you won't get infected then from these cuts." She said, wiping away the blood remaining on the skin and efficiently plucking all the small offending shards with an alarmingly practised hand. "You want to come back on Thursday. And you'll need a ticket. I'll get you one from behind the bar when we go back out." She said. She certainly played her cards so close to her chest they might as well be behind her shirt, her tone betrayed nothing, and the most Claire had seen of Scary Bouncer Lady's reactions was the look of mild surprise earlier.

"I've got friends with me..." Claire began, but wasn't sure where she planned to go from there.

"Only people like us can get in on Thursdays." She said, sternly.

"Oh, yeah." She said, unsettled slightly. "One can fly." She said, as if that proved anything.

"I'll get you tickets." She repeated and took the last sharp shard from Claire's arm. Luckily, it had seemed not to get on her brand new dress.

"Thanks." She said as she flexed her arm and hand to make sure all the fragments were out.

"Not at all. Let's go back." And with that, she led the way.

"What's your name?" Claire asked quickly, wanting to get a serious name for her, rather than having to report to her father as 'Scary bouncer Lady'.

"Morgan Dana." She said, and Claire barely heard the last name as the door to the club was swung open and the heavy beat assaulted her ears again, just as they had become accustomed the to the lesser noise and relative quiet of the coffee room.

As she stepped out, West and Kelly rushed her, fussing and worried.

"Where the hell have you been?" Kelly demanded, angry out of concern.

"Scary Bouncer Lady took be behind the bar to get the glass out of my arm – I fell on some broken glasses." She elaborated, the wrong way round, but they got the story. Claire felt a tap on her shoulder, and her two compatriots tense up before she turned around, and Morgan presented her with three tickets. She looked at West and Kelly as though asking if they were to two Claire mentioned earlier; she nodded and took the thin slips of card. Morgan nodded and walked off into the invisible crowd of people roaming the place.

"What are those?" West shouted above the din. Claire led them back to the booth and shared them out.

"These are tickets to a Specials-only night. Thursday!" She said, and didn't need to verbally make the connection between the Specials-only night and the other night 'Melody' played.

"That's why her voice was so enrapturing! It must be her ability!" West shouted. Claire visibly gasped when she looked at the ticket properly.

"That...that symbol!" She said, mostly to herself, as it was too quiet to have a chance of being heard by the other two, but they saw it as well: the slender 's' curve with three neat strikes going through it, they symbol of so many things connected with Specials. What did that mean? They guessed they would find out on Thursday. A few words were exchanged. They had found out quite a bit, they came to the conclusion that they needed a break and all headed for some serious partying.


	3. Chapter 3 Sylar's True Face

More thankees to Goggles

**Warnings: language, oc that fucks a few things up, Mohinder being righteous, dialogue means they're talking telepathically.**

Apologies if some of the telepathic dialogue isn't bracketed, when I uploaded the file to the site they had all gone. I hope I got then all back in.

**Chapter three - Sylar's True Face**

"Good morning Claire! I didn't expect you to be so prompt!" Came Noah's cheerful voice on the other end of the phone.

"I don't get hangovers, Dad." She said.

"You were drinking?" He demanded. Claire rolled her eyes.

"Yes, I was drinking, twenty-one remember?" She insisted and made him back down. She was so eager to be independent she hated any time her father got overly...fatherly with her. Maybe she just wanted space away from him, maybe that's why she went on this mission so eagerly. Perhaps she hated anything he said that sounded in the slightest bit controlling, since he had manipulated her and the family all her life.

"What did you find out?" Business: safe territory.

"They do a Specials-only night on Thursdays. We got tickets. Bouncer with super strength called Morgan and a singer called Melody with some kind of voice-related ability. I'm not exactly sure what it is yet." She reported officially.

"Specials-only? How many people are we talking?" He asked, suddenly anxious.

"I don't know yet. The club itself holds about five, six hundred."

"Even so, I'll bet there'll be a lot of Specials. I'm sending backup." He declared. Claire huffed.

"What? We've only been here one night?!" She argued.

"They're not there to replace you, but if we have even over a hundred Specials in there, you will need help. Document as many different abilities as you can, and try and find out who owns the place." He ordered. Claire jotted notes down in her book.

"Who are you sending?"

"Peter, Parkman and Suresh."

"The comedy act then?" Claire said, remembering how the three bickered like old women when they got together.

"Now, now Claire." Noah warned affectionately.

"I'll be on my best behaviour." She sighed. "Anything else?"

"You alright?"

"I'm fine."

"Just because you're twenty one doesn't mean a father can't still worry." He said, and her brow twitched in irritation.

"I know. I'm fine. I'll call again when I have something to report." She said.

I really feel too old to be in a place like this. Parkman whined as they entered. Peter looked as though Christmas had come early, and Suresh looked excited, though trying to hide it.

Just remember you're here in a professional capacity. Mohinder said, through the psychic channel that was going through Matt's mind.

You mean being the switchboard for everyone here? He outraged back. Mohinder held his hands up defensively.

I love this song!! Oh yeah, not in here two minutes and already found a hot red-head... Peter's thoughts drifted into everyone's minds.

Oh god, we're not going to get everyone's random thoughts are we? Claire pleaded.

Hey, filtering through this crap is difficult. Matt retorted and slumped in the darkest corner of the booth.

Shit! There's, like, two or three hundred people down there! West exclaimed through the mental link. They all looked at each other, suddenly feeling like they were in hostile territory.

Guys, I think we should split up, head to both bars and get someone on the dance floor. Claire said, as she was looking over to Morgan who was hunched over at the bar, watching them, and it suddenly struck her that they were probably behaving rather suspiciously.

I know you just wanna party Claire, but this is serious! Matt scolded her. She scowled at him.

Actually, we're just drawing attention to ourselves like this! Morgan is staring right at us! And in a comedy moment that made her want to beat them all with a brick, they turned their heads in unison and looked to the tattooed bouncer, who, true to Claire's word, was observing them closely. Peter seized Kelly's hand and pulled and yanked her down to the dance floor, making it look as though they were going together. West marched Claire down to the bar downstairs and Matt sloped off to the bar closest. Mohinder was left, sat on his own to sit and observe. He felt left out.

An hour ticked by. Matt had had two beers. Peter had had god knows how much, and Kelly was considering putting him in a coma if he didn't stop spanking her when she least expected it. Claire was drinking West under the table, though he was trying to pace himself, he couldn't help it when she got through them really quickly and he wanted to be polite. Mohinder hadn't had one drink brought to him. He was annoyed.

A flash of bright pink caught his eye, and it wasn't from a mini-skirted woman. It stood about four feet from the ground and was scuttling over to the bar. The barman bent over the counter and smiled gently at her. It was a little girl, little more than nine with bright pink earmuffs on and she eagerly reached up to touch the barman's hands in some kind of hug and pass him a small scrap of paper. He read it and she climbed up onto a stool, watching him as he showed off, flipping and catching the glasses, amusing her greatly. Mohinder went over, curious. Matt was nowhere to be seen, probably in the toilet (the less he wanted to think about it). She hopped off the stool and was given two glasses, one of coke and the other of lemonade. Happily, she plodded back where she came from. She was small and cute, close dark hair with big eyebrows.

Wondering what on earth a small child was doing in a night club ferrying drinks on her own, he determined to follow her and make sure everything was alright, even though she seemed perfectly happy. She was making for the sound mixing box above the balcony over the far side of the club and before he knew how far he'd gone, he was in the sound room itself. A man sat at the mixing desk, long dark hair just past his shoulders with headphones, tweaking the board every few moments. Once the door had closed, the soundproofing eliminated all but the primordial beat of the heavy bass sound, and the girl laid the drinks down on a separate table and took her ear muffs off. She went back to a corner and laid on her belly, writing in something that looked like a homework book.

The man seemed to sense Mohinder's intrusion and turned the swivel seat to face him, taking the headphones from his ears and hanging them around his neck

"What are you doing in here?" He demanded, angrily. Mohinder's face dropped, his jaw fell and eyes widened in shock. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave." He insisted and pressed a blue button next to the console before unhooking his headphones and hanging them on the desk.

"You..." Mohinder's body tensed up and began to shiver and shake. "I watched your body burn... how are you still alive?!" He demanded, voice rising. The face behind the long hair was as familiar as ever, those eyes, those brows, and that smirk always ghosting his mouth.

"What?" He choked out, not sure exactly how to respond.

"Damn you!" Mohinder screamed and leapt for him, striking him cleanly across the jaw and there was a crunch and he fell off the chair and to the floor. He struck again, this time in the stomach and Sylar gagged for air. The little girl screamed, a high pitched scream that made the walls of the box shake and Mohinder break down in agony, his ears felt as though they were about to burst. The door flew open and the burly woman darted in and picked up the little girl, caressing and comforting her until the noise stopped.

"What the hell are you doing?" Morgan demanded and picked up Mohinder by the shirt ruff.

"That man is a psychopath! I cannot let him live!" He declared hotly. She threw him to the floor with ease and crouched next to Sylar.

"You alright?" She asked. He nursed his jaw. The little girl rushed to him and he embraced her tightly.

"Are you hurt?" She asked him.

"I'll be ok, honey." He cooed and she nuzzled into him more. Morgan took the man by the arms and lifted him back into the seat, then she turned to Mohinder.

"You need to explain yourself. Now." She menaced. He suddenly got the feeling that if he had super strength, she had super super strength and he didn't really want to test his luck.

"You don't realise who this is?" He asked, unbelieving.

"This is Sylar Gray. A long time friend of mine." He answered icily.

"This man is a monster! He's killed dozens of people! Including my father!" He cried, as though they were mad for not knowing.

"He is certainly no monster!" She rebuked indignantly.

"And I have never killed anyone!" Sylar stated with utter sincerity.

"What the hell is going on?" Mohinder asked himself.

"I think you need to explain yourself before I break your jaw." Morgan growled. She stood bristling with potential energy and the urge to re-arrange his face.

"I know that face, I'll never forget it. It is the face that murdered my father, and countless others." Mohinder said, through gritted teeth and tense breath.

"I told you, I have never killed anyone!" Sylar hissed, covering the little girl's ears; she lay frightened and curled up in Sylar's lap, hugging him tightly.

"Sylar..." Morgan said quietly, passing him a sideways glance. He closed his eyes as he realised what had happened; silently he cursed some unprintable things.

"What? What is it?" Mohinder asked heavily, sensing that he was in for something of a revelation here.

"No, no Morgan." Sylar denied, shaking his shaggy head.

"It has to be." She affirmed, sternly yet sadly. She clearly felt sorry for him.

"No...he wouldn't...." He faded away, contemplating the horror of the situation, and his eyes glistened over.

"Why are you crying?" The little girl asked, looking up worriedly. Mohinder couldn't believe his eyes. Sylar with a very protective friend, a little girl who looked at him like a daughter and that face – that infernal face – openly weeping and grinding his teeth in anger.

"Because..." He couldn't begin to voice his thoughts. "Morgan, can you take her to Melody? I need to talk to him." He said, giving the little girl an encouraging little push, who looked sad to be taken out of his arms, and Sylar turned the swivel chair to face the doctor.

"Sylar..." The girl whined and waved at him before being led out by the hand by Morgan, complete with pink earmuffs.

"Who is she?" Mohinder couldn't help himself from asking.

"What is it exactly that you think I've done?" He steamed passed the scientist's question as though it was never asked and went straight into his own interrogation. Suresh looked closer, and saw little differences, a much harder edge to the face, not smirking and smug, but hard and almost weary.

"What?" He stumbled, the question baffled him. Surely he would know what he's done? Unless his memory had been tampered with...

"What have I supposedly done?" He demanded again.

"You killed my father in his own taxi cab, broke his neck. You saw the heads off people to get their abilities. You did it to Claire while she was awake. You've killed dozens." He said, unsure if this was really a good idea. Sylar sat back in his chair, running the hair out of his face, tears running down his face, openly and unashamedly.

"My god..."

"Now, answer me. Why are you asking me to tell you this? Don't you know?" He asked. Sylar rubbed his rough face with his hands and turned the lights up in the booth. Mohinder scrutinised the face further. Apart from the long hair and generous stubble, he noticed other things too that were different: a long, thin scar worn shamefully on his jaw and the wonky tell-tale sign of a long-ago broken nose. These were not features he had ever seen on Sylar before.

"I'm not the person you think I am." He began. The doctor began to get hot and angry, but he was stopped from venting wrath by a quiet and emotional Sylar. "My name is Sylar, but you are mistaking me for Gabriel." He said.

"Gabriel, Sylar, two names for the same person." Mohinder shot back. Sylar shook his head.

"No. I am Sylar. Gabriel took my name when he went on this...insane rampage. I'm his younger brother." He explained. The shock hit Mohinder like a cold wave. Brother? "We're twins, which is why you thought he was me. It's not the first time something like this has happened." He said.

"What do you mean?" He asked cautiously.

"That's why I moved to London. The police kept arresting me after all these 'Sylar' murders, thinking it was me because I matched the description and had the name. Each time it was proved I was nothing to do with the cases. After the fifth arrest I couldn't stand it anymore, it was hurting my family and we came here. I thought they might be after Gabe, but I didn't want to believe it. I knew he'd become cold and detached, but I didn't want to believe he'd become so inhuman." He explained.

"How come you've never come up on the radar before? I've worked with two companies that have dealt with Specials and I've never know Sy...Gabriel had a brother." He asked. Sylar fidgeted.

"I've only been around the last four years. For five years before that I was in a coma. I had...an accident." He said. Obviously he was skirting around the truth, but enough truth was in his voice for Suresh to know he wasn't lying about the coma part. "No one really expected me to wake up. Not even Gabe." He added sadly.

"I'm sorry...about my reaction to you." He apologised after a few heavy moments of silence.

"It's ok. Sorta used to it. That was a mean punch though." He said, and cradled his jaw again.

"Yeah, that would be my ability. Enhanced strength."

"Like Morgan?"

"I don't think quite that much to be honest!" He smiled and the atmosphere lightened up.

"So, if I may ask, what's your ability?" He asked, his curiosity now piqued as the anger left.

"I understand mechanisms, give me two minutes with any machine or computer and I can know my way around it like the back of my hand. And for some reason telekinesis, though I have no idea why. I just seemed to be able to do it from about two years ago." He said, and summoned the headphones to him with an eerily familiar gesture. Mohinder pondered this for a second and then realised he had some news to deliver, and wasn't exactly sure how Sylar would take it.

"Ah, then I have to tell you something." He said, hesitant.

"What?"

"Gabriel's dead." There was a pause.

"I did wonder why you said you watched my body burn earlier. But I have news for you – he's not." He said, convinced.

"What makes you think that?"

"Twin-bond. I would know if he was dead. I felt it when he nearly died, several times over the past couple of years. At the moment it feels like...like he's lost." Pause. Mohinder felt like weeping, they had tried so hard to kill the damn bastard and keep him dead. He made a mental note to find Gabriel and permanently put him out of action.

"Who was the little girl?" He asked, now really, really curious.

"She's my step daughter, Gail. She's Melody's daughter. Melody's my wife." He said, with a tell-tale smile on his face that betrayed a slight sentimentality about him. He leaned out from his chair to grab the drink left him by Gail when he lost his balance and fell to the floor. He swore several times and pushed himself up with his arms. He sat on the floor and tried to pull the chair upright and towards him.

"This effing thing." He cursed. "This is the only problem with swivel chairs, you can't get back on them when you fall off." He said and grabbed the desk, hauling himself up, but the chair swung away from him and he fell to the floor, annoyed.

"This is really embarrassing. Could you help me up?" He asked.

"What's the matter?" Mohinder asked, without realising.

"I can't get back on the bloody chair, and this place isn't the best for climbing around." He said. Suresh looked confused and stared blankly for a second. Sylar rolled his eyes. "I'm a paraplegic, I can't use my legs, and I hate that fucking chair!" He cursed angrily. Mohinder blinked and then actually moved, helping him raise himself and keeping the chair still enough so sit in.

"You ok?"

"Am now. Thanks. Normally I can do this on my own, but I'm so tired I can barely lift myself up. Been a long day."

"If you don't mind me asking," The scientist felt really insensitive now. "How long have you been..." He couldn't say it.

"Ever since I came out of the coma. Well, technically my spine was severed when I went into it, but it's all the same to me." He said, and clearly didn't want to speak any further on the subject.

Mohinder!! Mohinder!!! Matt's voice screamed in his head. Suresh put a hand to his ear, as though that would do anything.

What? Don't shout! He thought back vehemently.

Where the hell are you, man? Are you alright? He was worried.

I'm fine. I'll be down in a minute. He replied.

"You ok?" Sylar asked. "You went all funny for a minute."

"Yeah, sorry. My friends are looking for me, one of them in a psychic." He felt strange talking to this man so easily about abilities.

"That's cool." He said, and peered out the window of the box to the stage. "I gotta do my job for a minute, got to mash a playlist together and I'll be able to talk some more."

"Look, my friends, they don't know about you, or that you're not Sy...Gabriel. That's going to take some getting used to." He smiled.

"When I've done this set, I'll meet you by the top bar and you can introduce me." He said, and slid the headphones on. Mohinder walked out the box and back into the club, stunned. Sylar was such a nice guy, a bit on the hard edge and he didn't fancy getting on the wrong side of him, but a nice guy. This was going to take some explaining.

Everyone, I need you to meet me back at the booth. I've found out something very important that I need to explain in person. He broadcast to everyone.

Damn girl! You can shake your ass like a...

SHUT UP PETER!!! Claire screamed down the mental link, causing everyone to cringe. It seemed that while Mohinder was too distracted dealing with the information he'd gotten from Sylar, he'd closed his mind off from Matt's open channel, everyone else had been getting frequent updates on Peter's opinion of the girls on the dance floor.

Soon they were all huddled in a group on the street outside, they decided they needed to be able to hear each other, because Matt was not able to filter out Peter's thoughts and no one could bear it anymore. Mohinder had filled them in and they looked at him in a mixed array of wonderment, amazement, dumb shock and scepticism.

"At least meet with him, Matt you can determine if he's lying or not. There's just too much wrong for it to be _him_." He said.

"Anyone else find out anything?" Matt asked.

"I met one of the owners of the club. A lady called Gwin. Apparently the building was left to her in a will and she turned it into a haven for Specials were they could come, be accepted and stop worrying about the world for a night." Kelly said. West nodded in agreement.

"She said she'd been willing to meet with us during the day time, swap notes kinda thing. We can find out exactly what they're doing, whether this is a front for anything." He added.

"I've catalogued about four new abilities, that's what I've been working on." Claire said.

"Ok, let's go in, meet this...Sylar... guy and find out what we can. I'll get inside his head and figure out if he's the real deal." Matt affirmed.

"There's something else you need to know." Mohinder said. "He has a wife, and a step-child. A little girl called Gail." He said. "If you need proof of where he's been, you look into their minds." He said, and felt a bit dirty inside, as though he was just using them to help them prove Gabriel was not there, telling Matt to pry into the mind of an innocent little girl. He pushed the thought form his own mind and focused.


	4. Chapter 4 Mohinder Scores

Gooooogles! I luffs ya you good old beta you :D

**Warnings: oc, major oc, humour at Mohinder's expense :P, **

Chapter Four: Mohinder Scores

Sylar was already sat in a booth when they arrived back in, and they took seats, no one but Mohinder felt comfortable enough with the situation to sit near the man who looked so familiar yet, was apparently not. Immediately, he smiled widely and extended his hand to everyone in turn, shaking their hands and nodding his head in acknowledgement.

"Did Mohinder tell you about me?" He asked, already knowing the answer, but wanting to break the ice.

"Uh, yeah." Claire said, seeing as no one else really looked as though they were going to say something. Matt was busy getting into the man's mind, and Peter was eyeing up two red heads that passed by and waved cheekily to him. She elbowed him hard. He jumped out of his trance and looked as though he had been paying attention.

"So, psycho-killer brother eh? Never thought Gabe would go that far. I knew he had issues, but man!" he said, feeling very uncomfortable, they were still looking at him as though they wanted to kill him and were thinking of the best way how.

"Hello!" Chirped a voice that somehow rose clearly, without shouting, over the noise. Gail had brought a tray of soft drinks over for everyone. She smiled happily as she carefully put the tray on the table.

"Everyone, this is my step-daughter Gail." Sylar introduced and they marvelled at her. Mohinder nodded in encouragement to Matt how reluctantly began probing the girl's mind.

A flash of images came to him. She went with them every twice a week to the club and sat in the DJ box with her step-dad, doing homework or something while he did his job, and this memory stretched back for a year. He saw her first meeting Sylar, lying in a hospital bed, bleary eyed from the medication being fed to him in tubes. He saw her blowing out candles on a birthday cake. He saw them playing Wii together...

Hello? She said into his mind. He stared at her. Why are you looking at my memories? She demanded, arms crossed and pouting.

I wanted to ...err, how are you doing this? He asked.

You're doing it to me, so I can do it to you. She said.

I need to know if Sylar is really who he says he is, and not a different man we know. He explained as best he could.

A different man? Can't you tell if he's him or not? She asked. Damn, kids were difficult.

They look a lot alike. He said again.

You're looking for my dad aren't you? She said, as though knowing the answer.

Sorry?

Sylar's brother, my dad. She said. Matt was psychically floored. So much so he came out of his little meeting with Gail and gasped in real life.

"Matt?" Peter asked, concerned.

"You didn't tell us that Sy...Gabriel was her father!" He shouted accusingly at Mohinder, who for some reason should have known according to the ex-cop.

"What?!" There was a unison of cries this time. They looked to Mohinder and then to Sylar who was silent and dark. Suddenly they were afraid of him.

"Don't talk about it." He said dangerously. Even with the noise, they heard exactly what he said. They looked at each other, not exactly sure what to say next.

Next morning everyone stayed in bed. It had been a loooong night. They had gone for a nightcap with Sylar, Melody and Gail (who went to sleep in the bar they went to). They explained how they had all three been childhood friends and known each other since they were little. He elaborated slightly on how he had been in a coma for five years after an accident where he fell down the stairs, and she had been there for him when he woke up, the mistaken identity cases five times and their decision to move to London, away from the FBI and closer to Melody's family, as she had a rich brother in the finance sector. They had married two years ago and had been just honestly working and raising Gail. They talked a bit about abilities, Matt's came out quite quickly, Claire kept quiet about hers (she was still traumatised from Gabriel, and irrationally though Sylar might try the same trick with her). He said he didn't understand biology on the same level as Gabriel, and it was only machines his ability worked on. Melody, as per their previous suspicion, could manipulate her voice, allowing her to create any kind of sound from her vocal chords, whether another person's voice or an industrial power drill. Gail could use any ability that she physically experienced, hence her being able to use Matt's psychic powers. Finally, at four in the morning they split and went to their separate accommodations.

At about three in the afternoon, Claire made her report to Noah who seemed to have a mini-freak out.

"Are you sure you want to stay near this guy Claire?" He asked.

"Matt says he checks out. And he was really nice. You could tell he loved his family and would do anything for them." She said, an inadvertent shin dig which Noah picked up on.

"I want you to know I'm coming over Claire. This is serious and I think I need to deal with it in person." He said.

"Oh god, you're not going to come over here and shoot him are you?" She asked.

"Excuse me?"

"You do that and that little girl is going to grow up without either of her fathers, then again, going on what I've seen I think that'd be best for her..." She couldn't help the dig.

"Claire..."

"Never mind. When will you be here?" She asked shortly. He said he would be there in a few days and she was to sit tight and stay safe.

Claire went down and had breakfast with Peter, who did not really stop talking about the club the previous night and all the hot girls he'd danced with. This bored Claire senseless and wondered what on earth had gotten into him recently. He used to be above all this desperate-lonely-guy crap but girls where the only thing he talked about, how red heads where his favourite and he didn't like black-haired girls because they all looked like Heidi to him.

"Shut the hell up Peter!" She finally snapped, throwing her cereal spoon in the half-finished bowl. "I don't want to hear about it!" She barked and stormed back to her room. A few diners looked at her strangely, and Peter tried to go back to finishing his toast, but couldn't bring himself to leave things with Claire like that. He ran to catch up with her, which was a few flights of stairs as she had taken the lift.

"Claire!" He called after her as she was turning the key to her room.

"What?" She snapped.

"I'm sorry. I...I don't know what's come over me." He said.

"You're lonely and want a girlfriend, I get it, Peter, but I don't want the up-to-the-minute report, right?" She said. His eyes went from apologetic to puppy in 0.68 seconds flat.

"I'm sorry." He said and Claire could not stay mad when he pulled those eyes on her.

"Fine. I'm sorry for snapping, but a little less of the babe-report, ok?" She said. He nodded and did the sad little smile that meant he didn't feel properly forgiven yet. Inwardly she rolled her eyes at him and hugged him. He tightly returned the embrace and they stood content for a minute or so until she let go of him. He smiled properly now and dropped the puppy eyes.

"Want to go and finish breakfast?" He asked, he was still hungry and knew she was too.

"The people down there stared enough as it was." She said, now feeling a little embarrassed.

"We can go out?" He proposed. She grinned.

"Sounds great, let me get my bag." She said and slipped into her room for a few moments before re-emerging and nearly skipping out of the hotel with him.

The next night they went back to the club – it seemed they were there every night now – but it was largely just for fun now. Sylar would not be there, it was not Specials night, and they made the excuse that they might get to meet the manager if they went. West just wanted to party and show off some classy moves to Kelly who definitely seemed interested; Peter wanted to meet more single girls (though he kept this to himself now), and Claire wondered if she could dance all night and not cramp up (it was a scientific experiment, honest!).

Matt originally was going to stay away and just watch movies in his room until he fell asleep and eat take out, but Peter managed to convince him somehow to come out with them. Claire wondered if it was because Matt could 'persuade' the bouncers to let them all in without queuing up or paying, but she took it on good faith that he simply wanted his good friend's company. So in shirts and short skirts, the boys and girls (respectively, though Peter said he would go in a mini skirt for a dare, but they said they had enough mental trauma in their pasts and didn't need anymore thank you very much) made their way the five minute walk to the club and Matt nodded his head to the side before they all just walked in easily.

They certainly looked good, Peter in a silk shirt with quite few buttons undone, Matt looking moody and cool in his leather jacket, Mohinder in a strangely tasteful (though no one else would have been able to get away with it) yet incredibly loud shirt, and West in a plain white shirt. The girls were pretty smouldering hot, Claire in a midnight blue dress with silver sequins splashing around it like waves, and Kelly in a red slinky top and black shorts. The two girls had spent the last two hours in Claire's room doing each other's hair and makeup – Kelly's eyes were a work of art with black red and gold colour. She complained teasingly to Claire that she always had a perfect glow that made her beautiful without makeup and the cheerleader could go out without a single brush applied and still look stunning.

Arm in arm the two girls strutted down the stairs and were met by a crowd of adoring male fans and soon disappeared into the dancing crowd, lost to all but Matt who kept open the mental link (much to his apprehension about including Peter in said link). Claire soon found a partner in a tall dark and handsome young man with dark, mysterious eyes and a self-confident smug smirk that she hated and found attractive at the same time. Nevertheless she danced with him, swaying and grinding to the music that seemed to wash over them like rhythmic waves. West tried to find Kelly, searching for a good few minutes before giving up and getting a drink, deciding to wait until she came to the bar for hydration, he even bought a coke for her when she decided to show up. He would be waiting a while.

Matt had gotten to know the top floor barman pretty well, and they sat together, Mike the Barman pulling up his own stool, serving Matt pints of Mansfields and sipping ice water himself. They systematically put the world to rights, religion, politics, media, nothing escaped their scrutiny, and at first Mohinder joined them, drinking a casual beer until he could bear it no longer. Those two seemed to have fun by whinging at the world, he wanted to have a good time so politely made his excuses and made his way down to the lower-floor bar where he could find Peter. Truth be told he was kind of cowardly when it came to wanting to join in the fun, he felt too old to be doing all this, which was silly because hadn't reached 30 – just. His body felt amazing since his ability had settled, he felt as good as he had done when he was eighteen, strong and energetic. He decided to find Peter and get involved that way; if it didn't seem such a ridiculous proposition that he should get dancing, then he figured Peter would take him back into the crowd with him.

He looked over the heaving mass of people and up to the stage. There was a live DJ set up there, and small groups of dancers. His gaze was drawn to one in particular, who was dancing with more unending energy and elation than any of the others and he felt as though he had to watch. She wore a black short holterneck that showed a toned belly and skinny black cords so he could see exactly what she was moving and how much. He felt slightly ashamed to be so blatantly ogling this woman, but could not look away. Eventually she skipped down from the podium she was on and weaved her way expertly through the crowd, making a beeline for the bar and 'the sourest thing you've got' she barked at the barman. She seemed to have no trouble making her voice heard. She smiled as she sipped the sour beverage and as she looked around happily, he gaze fell on him. Their eyes met and looked, grappling in a contest of who could check the other out the most. He shuffled over to her, trying to introduced himself, but her face faltered; she tried to smile but the muscles simply twitched instead of moving properly and eventually she shut her eyes off from looking at him and pushed passed him, away and disappeared into the throng.

He blinked. What on earth had he done wrong? Surely he wasn't _that_ bad that girls ran off crying when he tried to approach them. That was it, his self-confidence was shot and its corpse left to hang on a tree in the middle of nowhere in case it might not have died from the emotional rejection of only a sly gaze. He sulked into his drink and headed back upstairs to the booth just as Peter emerged out of the crowd with a girl on each arm promising to buy a round.

Next night, he did not even try to go down and instead sat at the upstairs bar, away from the two old women at the end of the bar by the names of Matt and Mike. He sulked into his third beer, watching with a degree of jealousy as West even seemed to be getting some reciprocation from Kelly and she consented to let him buy her a drink (that was major developments when it came to her. She and Claire may have been fast friends, but she got all funny when it came to boys. West had teased her once, calling her a lesbian so she snogged the face off Peter to prove a point and he had sulked ever since). He was pouting quiet spectacularly to no one when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

A shy looking woman in her mid-twenties met him with an embarrassed smile, familiar, and this time in a white racer-back form-fitting dress. She had dark, deep mahogany hair in natural tight curls around her face and abyssal dark eyes with looming brows so that they seemed to go on forever. He couldn't help thinking she was beautiful. True he seemed to say that about a lot of women recently (his cheeks burned as he remember the whole 'Maya-incident' as it was now known in his head) but nonetheless, the compliment stood. He recognised her as the woman who ran off crying when he tried to introduce himself to her.

"Hi. Sorry about yesterday. I was really hoping I'd see you tonight so I could apologise." She said in a clear, confident voice. Again, she had no trouble speaking over the noise.

"Was it something I said?" he asked, trying to make light out of it, she was fairly awkward in her demeanour, so she was genuinely sorry.

"No, nothing you did!" She chirped and perched next to him. "I thought...I thought for a second you were someone else. It's a bit hard to tell with those lights downstairs. Please forgive me." She smiled sweetly and shyly. He got the impression she wasn't usually this coy.

"Oh I see." He said, and wasn't sure really what to say after that so drained the dregs of his beer.

"I'll make it up and buy you a drink." She said and before he could say otherwise she was talking to the barman who was taking what looked like very precise orders. After a few minutes she came back with a very familiar cocktail. He shook his head in disbelief, smiling, and sipped it just to be sure. It was. He absolute favourite, made up almost perfectly.

"How...how did you know?" He stuttered.

"Know what?" She said innocently. He stumbled over himself.

"This is my favourite drink." He explained.

"It's mine too." She said, cheerfully and chinked his glass with her own. "Cheers." She said and they toasted again. He delighted in the taste of wonderfully blended flavours. They sat in a comfortable silence for a long time, sipping their drinks until he had drained his glass and eaten the fruit that went in it.

"Thank you." He said, smiling. So if she hadn't run off screaming because of his lack of charm, then he might just have a chance he thought slyly to himself. The song changed and she leapt up, grabbing his wrist and tugging him over to the stairs.

"I love this song!" She said and veritably yanked him down to the dance floor. Her cocktail glass was left on the bar counter barely sipped at.

About an hour and a half later, Mohinder had finally made his way back to the booth, wheezing for breath and muscles already beginning to cramp up. She had danced him until he quite literally felt like he was going to collapse. He found Peter sat drinking beer, with a raised eyebrow. He nodded his head towards the girl. Peter followed the gaze and saw 'Abi' walking out the club, throwing a cheeky wave at the exhausted scientist and wink.

She's hot. Was all Peter had to say on the subject.

She kissed me. Mohinder said, not sure why he said it, whether it was to make Peter jealous or not he wasn't quite sure.

Wow, I envy you, man. He said, thinking back to her, the shapely legs...

Exhausting though. He said and allowed himself to relax, stretching out and curling back up. He had the strange notion that he had somewhere met her before, or that they had seen each other in the past sometime. Maybe they had. He had spent a few months in London years ago at the completion of his medical training. He didn't dwell on it too much, as West also retreated to their sanctuary and nursed his feet.

Damn...I think Claire and Kelly are actually trying to see who'll drop first. He complained.

Kelly's actually going against Claire who can instantly heal anything? Peter raised both his eyebrows.

Seems like it. A round of tequila slammers are at stake apparently. He reported and winced at the pain in his feet.

Any luck with Kelly? Peter asked, wondering if he was the only person who didn't get lucky tonight (apart from Matt, but he didn't count).

I got a couple of dances, but she seems more interested in dancing with other girls than me. He sounded thoroughly rejected. I'm pretty convinced she must be a lesbian and just isn't telling me. He complained.

I dunno, man, she seemed pretty straight to me... He replied smugly, referring obviously to the kiss.

Shut up! West snapped back like a twelve year old girl and pouted in a dark corner.

After another hour, the boys were falling asleep and the girls finally came up, looking thoroughly exhausted. Kelly stepped as though her feet had been skinned – which, judging by the state of her heels, they had. They had agreed tequilas tomorrow and bed now. They were greeted by sarcastic cheers and groans that let them know the boys were grumpy at being held back from bed for so long. Matt had to be almost physically forced away from Mike, as they were apparently in a very deep and interesting conversation about international commerce. West made the comment that he couldn't think of anything more boring and escaped quickly.

**A/N: Thank you for staying with me on this, I realise it has been too long since I updated. I will try and do it more frequently, I promise!!**

**TKCB**

**xxx**


	5. Chapter 5 That IS your name

**More thanks to Goggles.**

**It occured to me that I didn't include a disclaimer in the first chapter. Then I thought: I think we all know I don't own Heroes, or I wouldn't be writing and posting it as fanfiction. So yeah.**

**Warnings: oc's galore, revelations, violence and threat of mass destruction**

**Chapter five - That IS your name**

Thursday night (they had taken the weekend off as not all of them could process alcohol like Claire and used the week to get normal things done like washing and moving into the apartment now waiting for them) and it was Melody and Sylar's first set of the week. Claire was at the downstairs bar, waiting for a packet of crisps (they had run out and he needed to get more from out back) when she noticed Sylar sitting next to her.

"Hello Claire." He said in a menacing voice. She chuckled. He did it to her on purpose; she had been angry at first, about how he made fun of her fear of his brother, but now she could laughed.

"You're getting better." She smiled. "Go a bit more eyebrow-y and you'll have it perfect." She turned the smile into a grin and happily received the crisps from the barman. "What did you do to your hair?" She asked. It was slicked back tonight with gel and looked shorter. "Don't tell me you're going all formal now?" She smiled and danced off. The man to whom she had been talking to blinked. Then he blinked again. Was that really Claire? Being funny with him? Talking to him like she was his friend? Gabriel shrugged and finished his drink. He was waiting for the main act to start.

This was his third night in this place, this club where Melody was supposed to perform. He wanted to see her again. No reason. Just felt like he should. He also knew that The Company were there, but judging by Claire's reaction to him (he had anticipated a whole far more dramatic exchange) something was amiss. He would investigate later. Peter passed him with two blondes draped over him. He bristled and tensed up, ready for a fight, but instead of flying blows and explosions of various explosive abilities, all he got was a 'question mark' look and pointing to his hair, before he was whisked off again by the rather insistent women. He was at a loss. Neither had reacted badly to him at all, not so much as a single name-calling and both had said something about his hair. The urge to investigate this (and by investigate he meant rip heads open until someone told him the answers) shifted higher on his priority list.

This was forgotten temporarily by an announcer announcing it was time for the main act of the evening, Melody and the Unknown DJ. She waltzed onto the stage and he lost his breath. Buoyant brunette locks of soft curls bobbed around her face and gentle amber eyes shone out towards him even though she did not see him. Her face was magnified and broadcast to the hundreds present on the giant monitors and he shuddered. The face that had haunted him over the last two months of dreams. It was older, ten or so years older, but she was still young and still so lovely. He reclined on the stool, leaning on the bar and enjoying the show rather smugly, as though she was performing just for him. In his mind they had only just parted a few days ago, and she was still in love with him, enough to take him back after he had rather abruptly ended things with her. He thought that even if she had found someone else, if he were to show up, she would still want him, after all, he was better than nearly any other man she could possibly be with. If she didn't see it that way, she could always just kill the bastard and do it that way.

Somewhere on the dance floor, Mohinder had been dragged for another dance with Abi who seemed to be in this club every night, not just every night he was there. She was rapidly becoming bolder with him, and even when 'Satisfaction' had come on earlier, she had not shied away from grinding with him until he was sore in at least three different places, she certainly didn't compromise when it came to the hard dance. He confessed a deepening attraction to this random almost-stranger who had seemed to win him over with cocktails and very teasing dancing. This pleased him, not only in that he thought he was going to score for sure, but that Peter still hadn't found a woman who would spend a whole evening with him. He was about to go into a full mental diatribe as to possible reasons why when he suddenly felt his face seized and warm, moist lips collide with his own. At first he was stunned and unreceptive, but after getting his wits back, held Abi in an embrace to return the kiss with equal force.

Bastard... He heard Peter think at him and all he could do was smile into the kiss and turn his thoughts back to Abi. She kissed him as though they had kissed a hundred times before, not only once; she moved her lips to meet his before he had barely started moving his own and she hung on to him by laying her hands on his back, drawing on his strength to her, and his hands fell happily on his waist, fondly stroking her frame as they melded together. This all felt so comfortable as though they did it every day.

Ahem. Hope I'm not interrupting anything, Suresh? Noah's voice broadcast into his brain and he jumped slightly, but it was enough to break the kiss. Abi looked at him, wondering what she had done wrong. He stroked her face and she quickly turned into it.

"I'll be back in a minute." He told her close to her ear and slipped away. He jogged up the stairs to where Noah was waiting, leaning on the balcony, watching the whole scene.

Hello. I didn't expect to see you until tomorrow. Mohinder said and their shook hands brusquely.

I managed to get on an earlier flight. He explained. I was slightly worried, after they lost Claire's luggage and everything when they came over. He said with a smile. Nice shirt. He teased.

All right, give it a rest. What can I do for you? He was sensitive about his wardrobe.

I wondered if you had managed to meet with the owners of this place yet?

No, one of the bouncers said they would be getting in touch with us, but we haven't heard anything yet. He reported. Suddenly he felt silly for going out and just clubbing when he was supposed to be working. Did Claire fill you in about...

Sylar? Yes. I will be wanting to speak to him, naturally. He said, and even through the mental link the hint of menace was still present.

He's working at the moment, though I think I saw him at the downstairs bar a while ago. He said. Noah nodded and cast his eye back over the crowd. Mohinder didn't need the mental link to know what he was looking for.

Leave Claire alone. Suresh said to him and tugged his arm gently in encouragement. A beer was waiting for them both at the table in the booth and a sulky West.

What's the matter with you? You look as though you got you got dumped. Mohinder said.

I did. West groaned.

I didn't realise you were even with someone.

Well, close enough. Kelly ditched me for a girl call Tanya. He was nearly crying into his beer.

Grow up and be a man, West. Noah chastised him. Girls are going to find their interests lie...elsewhere than with you. I'm sure you can find another girlfriend. He said, secretly showing the small affection he had for the boy. He just pouted and took a draught.

"Hello Mohinder!!" Came a cheerful young voice. Gail stood, beaming at them. "I got everyone drinks." She said and pushed a tray of cokes and lemonades onto the table. "I'm just taking a drink up to Sylar now. He says hi." She said. She was much more confident tonight.

Is this his daughter? Noah asked, carefully keeping it in the link.

Yes, technically his step-daughter.

Of course, I heard apparently she Gabriel's daughter.

There's no apparently about it, Bennet. Can't you see the resemblance? Matt said. Mike wasn't on shift tonight so he was talking with the group for once.

"I've got to go now. Bye!" She chirped and left, clearly wanting to skip, but unable due to the careful balance of the drinks she had to do as she walked to the booth.

That's Melody! West said, looking over to the top bar where the singer was drinking some water and chatting to the barwoman.

Sylar's wife you said? Noah wanted to confirm. And mother of Gabriel's daughter? He had not slipped up on the name distinction once since the news. His mind was too well honed for that. They nodded to him and he polished his glasses, clearly going to go over and speak with her. When they next looked over, she had been joined by Sylar.

"Just some water please." She said to the barwoman, Trish, and she leaned on the bar heavily. She had had a long day, the pit in her stomach was uncomfortable, and she had argued with Sylar. She wanted tonight to be done and get some much welcome sleep. She checked the time on a silver pocket watch and as she snapped the lid shut she became aware of a presence next to her. She looked up to see what she thought was Sylar's face. But that assumption lasted less than a second as it was clearly not her husband's face, leaving her with only one option.

"Gabriel..." She gasped, a whisper, but audible about the noise.

"I see you kept it." He said smugly, taking the watch out of her hand and turning it around in his own, inspecting it. There were a few nicks and kinks in the metal work, but the mechanism itself seemed undamaged. He held the device to his ear.

"You've kept it well too, only four seconds slow after all these years." He said and absent-mindedly adjusted the time. He smirked at her.

"So then, my Melody, pleased to see me again?" He asked her, full of self-assurance. She stared at him blankly before scowling and throwing her water over his face and stalking off. Those assembled at the booth where aghast, and then they saw thing that made their blood run cold – he got up and ran after her. It couldn't have been Sylar, so there was only one option left... Shit.

"Wait!" He commanded, but Melody refused to even turn and speak to him. "I said wait!" He barked and forced her with his telekinesis to turn and face him.

"I don't have anything to say to you." She spat and struggled in his invisible grip.

"Not a thing? Nothing?" He demanded, he wanted at least something from her. It was evident she wasn't pleased with him, but he wouldn't be treated like this!

"What are you doing to my mum?" Gail demanded, standing behind Gabriel, staunch and ready for a playground fight.

"Mum? You have a daughter?" He asked Melody with a raised eyebrow. She glowered at him, spitting hot coals with her eyes, but remained mute. "Who's the father?" He demanded to know. She scoffed.

"As if that is any of your business!" She spat and he applied some force as if to prove he would keep squeezing until she answered him. Inadvertently she squeaked out in pain.

"Leave her alone!" Gail screeched with the force of her mother's ability and then threw him with telekinesis she had picked up from Sylar's infamous tickling matches. He was not expecting the power from her and was caught off guard as she threw him. She ran instinctively to her wheezing mother.

"Go to Sylar, hide with him." She ordered and Gail reluctantly obeyed.

"So, she has an ability." He stated, intrigued.

"You're not getting anywhere near her." Melody growled defensively.

"You sound so certain of that." He menaced instinctively. "She certainly seems very interesting."

"So does hell, why don't you pay it a visit." She spat back.

"Been there done that." He said tiredly.

"No you have not." She hissed, shaking with rage. "You know...nothing of hell." He took time to observe her. Then he heard a gun click and brush his ear.

"Noah, didn't expect to see you in a place like this." He taunted and turned to face his assailant.

"It won't be for long." He growled.

"How long will it take you to figure out that bullets aren't going to work on me?" He asked. At that moment, with everyone bristling for a fight, Abi came running up the steps with a huge grin on her face.

"Mohinder! You will never...." She trailed off as she realised the situation. Everyone looked at each other until Abi's eyes fell on Gabriel.

"You." She growled, and suddenly her alluringly dark eyes turned deathly black. Gabriel coughed and then choked as he felt as though his insides her dying and rotting in quick seconds. Black, bloody tears ran down his face and he snarled as he recognised the pain. With a flick of his hand, she flew across the floor and down the stairs. The bloody tears ceased.

"And after that little interlude." He said smugly, feeling the relief of his body knit itself back together. Mohinder surged with rage. Why was it that this man had to destroy everything he loved, or even had a chance at loving? His muscles bulged and he struck him down, catching the man by surprise and giving him a good beating. Peter was joining in when they both got electrocuted and thrown back. Noah opened fire, and with an annoyed flick he pinned them all against a wall with a vice grip.

Screams erupted from the dance-floor and Abi emerged from over the edge of the balcony where she had fallen, surging with multicoloured sparks that she threw at Gabriel mercilessly. He roared in pain and put together a blue counter attack while the burns healed. Morgan came running from the mixing box, carrying Sylar in her strong arms, there being no time to faff with his chair. Gail ran to her mother and while Gabriel was throwing bolts of Elle's blue trademark at her, she countered with streams of fire. Gail summoned a barstool and swiped the legs from underneath him.

"Get away!" Abi screamed. Gail ran to Abi's side and they both stood in an identical stance, opening their mouths and screaming with Melody's ability at Gabriel, knocking him back. He tried to get up and use his abilities, but the sound was cracking his skull open, he felt the flesh on his face buckle and stretch, the bones in his head fracture and all the sinews want to give up and crumble to nothing but a grease stain on the bar. Gail failed quickly, her small body unable to sustain such an intense ability and she swooned to the ground, prompting her mother to rush to her side.

There was a moment when Abi and Gail were stood next to each other, standing in the same way, screaming in exactly the same way that the heroes saw it. Both had naturally tight mahogany curls, dark, dark eyes and a myriad of abilities. Gail looked like the mini version of Abi. Who was Abi really? And did they want an answer to that question?

Eventually Abi ran out of breath, and it gave Gabriel the time he needed to zap her with a heavy dose of electricity. His fractured skin was bloody and stretched where it had almost buckled from the force of the hostile voice (he thought that had it not been for Claire's ability it would have done quickly).

"You're more tenacious here." Abi growled, smoking from the burns still. She grinned scarily and her hands flashed orange and then white. "I told you once that I would never rest until you had suffered suitably for what you had done to me. I didn't mean it then, but I get a second chance now!" She sneered triumphantly and waves of heat began to emanate from her.

"What the hell? Is she going nuclear?" Peter screamed over the noise of the whoosing coming from her arms.

"Peter! Can you stop her?" Noah shouted, still unable to move from Gabriel's irritatingly thorough and unyielding grip.

"I can't move! Gabriel!" He entreated the mad man, "Let me go! I can help stop her!"

"THAT'S NOT MY NAME!" He screamed back, warped face falling back into position just then.

"YES IT IS!" Abi screeched and doubled her output. Anytime she was going to blow and take half of London with her at this rate. Mohinder felt the heat on his skin about to burn his felt, it was reddening and beginning to slowly blister as though he were being cooked alive. The din was added to when Morgan roared, her skin seemed almost completely covered in blue now, no tattoos, just a wash of colour and she launched at Abi, knocking her over and dulling the heat for a second. It was enough for a figure to touch Abi's head and draw out a tiny orange light from it with delicate fingertips. Suddenly the radiation stopped and the heat gave way to cool air rushing in from the ventilation shafts. Matt found he could move and slowly climbed out of the telekinetic hold on him and he scrambled for water for everyone.

A new woman was on the scene, she had long fiery red hair and a swollen belly. In her hands she held the tiny orange glimmer and everyone found they could not use their abilities at all.

"Stop this." She commanded in a very gentle voice, a soft Scottish accent barely noticeable.

"You have no idea what this man has done, Gwin!" Abi protested.

"I do. He has murdered our kind for their abilities. I am not unaware of this." She said with infinite calm.

"Not that, I don't care about any of that!" She said hurriedly and irritated. The heroes gasped somewhat and to varying degrees with this statement. What did she care about? Then again, should this come as a surprise to them when she was seemingly willing to blow up a few million people to get at one man? "That miserable excuse for a creature ruined everything!" She screamed, hysterically. Mohinder suddenly felt very uncomfortable. Just fifteen minutes ago he was kissing her in a contented and comforting embrace that made him think he would like to continue this 'relationship' as it was beginning to develop, now it was clear she was slightly unhinged and just a little mad. "He ruined my mother's life, my life, my family..." She said, beginning to weep angrily. "HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO ME?" She screeched, flailing her arms in a way that unnervingly reminded him of Elle.

"I don't know what you're talking about..." He began, but she forcefully cut through him, thrusting an accusing finger at Gail, who was being gently fed sips of water by Melody and Matt.

"Yes you do. Her. Me. Us." She said, and it still didn't make any sense to him.

"You're Gail aren't you?" Claire said, seeing the resemblance. Abi nodded slowly.

"I come from ten years from now. Where you at least made some effort to make up for what you did." She spat, livid. "But here, you're just disgusting." She condemned. "It's one thing to run away from your partner because you're afraid of pain, but it's another thing to just dump her with your baby!" She accused. Gabriel looked confused, he looked to Melody, wondering what she was hinting at. Abi sneered. "What? Can't you see the family resemblance?" She hissed and parted the curls on her face so her could see properly. His heart stopped as he saw it; Melody's hair, his colour, her smooth skin, his tan, her nose, his dark, dark eyes, her jaw and his mouth.

"No..." He stumbled and fell back.

"Oh, are you starting to realise?" She raged. "Five years without a father! Five years with nothing! Five years with nothing of you but my mother's tears and heartbreak! And then having to settle for the mark two version because you didn't want to be around. You know she married him because she saw too much of you in him!" She screamed, spitting out sparks of fire as she bawled at him.

"I didn't know." He said simply and honestly.

"Bullshit! You knew and did nothing!" She yelled, spewing embers and crying loudly.

"I didn't know, I swear." He said, turning to Melody, who was also weeping silently, stroking Gail's fevered forehead. "Is she..really my daughter?" He asked in a small voice.

"No, she's not your daughter." Sylar growled, Morgan had sat him down on a chair next to his family. "You provided the genetic material, but you know nothing of fatherhood." He spat.

"I've waited for too long to let you get away with this." Abi said and shot him with a blast of Elle's same electricity. Gwin fisted her hand and screamed for peace.

"Get out of here Abi, before I take away all of your abilities. Or I'll let Raewyn eat you." She growled, her gentle composure lost. Abi passed her a hot look of rage and vanished from their sight. There was a stunned silence. Claire was nursing Kelly who was clutching her head. Abi's extreme emotional states had affected Kelly badly and her migraine was head-splitting. "You are the ones from The Company, right? Come with me. We can speak in private and give these guys some space." She was calm and commanding. They could tell she was usually a very gentle person, but her feathers had been ruffled considerably. "And no violence." She looked particularly to Gabriel. "Or I _will_ let Raewyn eat you." She said and led Noah and his team to the coffee room in the back where Claire had had the glass shards taken out of her by Morgan, whose skin had gone back to the regular inked tattoos now. Claire looked back at the four people they were leaving behind, wanting to stay, but knowing she would not be able to.


	6. Chapter 6 Gabriel and AbiGail

**Apologies for the inconsistent posting of the chapters. There is no good excuse for this :( Instead I shall ask your forgiveness and continue with the story.**

** Warnings: ooc, oc, Gabriel bashing, language,**

**Chapter six - Gabriel and Abi/Gail**

"How old is she?" Gabriel asked quietly.

"Nine."

"So, she was conceived just before..."

"Just before you left me." Melody finished for him.

"I didn't know." He reiterated. He was astonished. The little girl in her arms was _his_ little girl, his own flesh and blood, with his hair colour, eyes and mouth.

"I know. I was literally about to tell you when you cut me off." She said, referring back to the little cafe in which they had met and broken up. "You walked out the door so quickly I couldn't even shout it to you down the street." She said. The memory pained him. He looked up at his brother, stunned to see him.

"I can't believe you're here." Sylar said, dangerously. "You've got some nerve." Gabriel wondered if his brother knew exactly how much nerve he had. "I know what you're thinking. 'When did he wake up?'. For your information, I woke up four years ago. To be told I had had only one visitor once a week, a certain Virginia Gray, and no one else. You never came to see me Gabriel." He accused. Gabriel retreated behind his mask to avoid the shame. "I knew you were afraid of getting close to people, but to just shut them out of your life? You couldn't get much closer to Melody and then you drop her when it gets a little too hot for you." Years of anger and accusations poured out of Sylar's mouth with intense ferocity.

"Sylar..." Melody said quietly. He quietened, reluctantly.

"Gabriel. I loved you once. Maybe there is some small part of me that still does. But I do not want to ever see you again. You left me with nothing. You've become a danger to my daughter. She will never be your daughter. I don't want her to ever have any contact with you. Do you understand me?" She said quietly, trying to keep calm. His heart broke. His child and he wasn't even allowed to see her? She was never to know he was her father? No, no, no, it wasn't fair, he never meant to... Abilities were one thing, and though he would never regret anything that he did in his fulfilment of his Hunger, he always rued his 'normal human' life, all the mistakes born of weakness and inadequacy. But this was one hell of a mistake that effected him now in his new life, new persona. No longer the timid watchmaker, now a god among specials; yet the part of him that wore jumpers in summer and glasses had left a mark in his new world, a mark made of flesh and blood.

"You married..." He said, remembering as his eyes caught the thin band of gold around her finger.

"Did you really think I was going to wait for you?" She hissed, desperately trying to keep calm and not explode with anger in front of her weakened daughter.

"No, but him?" He asked, indicating to Sylar.

"I may not have a halo, but I'm a damnsight better man than you are! We don't have to explain this to you." He said, scowling an old intimidating frown that scared the little boy in Gabriel still. Gabriel may have been just the oldest, but Sylar was the big bully version...until the accident.

"You fucked me then married my brother?!" He exclaimed, unable to hide his disgust and remnants of jealousy. Melody went red.

"You say anything like that again, and I swear she will grow up to hate you." Melody hissed. "Just like the Abi that attacked you just now. Your own daughter will grow up hating you, never loving you." She cursed. That pushed the buttons, and she knew it would. Gabriel always wanted love he never got from his parents, and acceptance that his existence was ok, that he had, indeed, made it as a human being. He had told her one night that if he ever had children he would do everything he could to make them feel as loved and cherished as possible. The thought of not being loved even by his own daughter tore him in two.

"Morgan, can you take her to the car. We'll be going home soon, she needs rest. You go too, Sylar." Melody quietly ordered.

"I'm not leaving you here with him." Sylar insisted; she put a hand on his arm to quell him.

"I shan't be long. Go." She said, and he kissed her tenderly before letting Morgan pick him up and take him out. Gabriel frowned in curiosity at the strange display.

"Don't you dare say a word about it." She said, knowing what he was thinking. "It humiliates him enough as it is."

"What's wrong?" He asked, getting the feeling that something wasn't good with his twin.

"The night of the...accident. It severed his spine, didn't it? He never regained the ability to walk when he came out of the coma." Gabriel winced. His once strong and fearsome brother had been reduced to a shadow of his former self, seeking nothing better than what he had. Gabriel had taken the opportunity offered to him with the discovery of his abilities and reached for the sky, but Sylar had almost...just submitted to life and not tried to raise himself up.

"Gabriel..." She said, walking closer to him. "I love Sylar now." She said, and he closed his eyes to hide the hurt, which could read as plainly as a book. "But I have always loved you. I gave you everything I had and you rejected it. I will bear you no ill if you stay away from my daughter." He noted she didn't say 'our' daughter. "I cannot risk you hurting her. I know you will not mean to, but you will. Not until she is old enough to make that decision on her own. She is happy with Sylar. She makes him cards for father's day, she cannot deal with having you in her life now." She said.

"But... No. I understand." He said mutely, if unconvincingly.

"You are not the Gabriel I knew any more. So I can't love you, because it was him I loved. Find someone who can love you for this new person, because it cannot be me." She said.

"I noticed the necklace on Gail." He said as she went to pass him.

"You gave that to me when we made her. It seems only right it belongs to her. I cannot wear it now I am married to Sylar." She replied.

"Melody..." He began, but could not continue.

"Good bye Gabriel." She said. She gave him a mute kiss on the cheek and walked out. He fell in two. He thought he had thrown everything out that he had had as Gabriel, but it seemed his old self had stuck to him a little more tenaciously than he had thought. These old feelings for Melody weren't supposed to have stayed around, let alone the sudden attachment he felt towards his daughter. That phrase still shocked him. _His _daughter. But before he could get used to it and like the idea he had to know he would never know her. He wanted to cry.

The next morning, breakfast was a strange and awkward affair. They had all met up at once and sat around a large table in a cafe, politely passing around the toast and one-bowl sized cereal boxes. Noah was leading the conversation in a falsely charming way about the information they had disseminated from Gwin and Raewyn Dana the previous night. It turned out they were sisters and Morgan was their youngest sibling. They inherited a lot of land over Britain when their father died and they turned that particular building into a haven for Specials. They had contacts across the country, keeping an eye on newly emerging powers and offering help in learning how to cope and control their new abilities. By the looks of it, they knew of hundreds across the British Isles. Noah knew they kept a database of all their contacts and their particular powers, but she had made no allusion to it and had steered skilfully away from the topic, even when bought up by stealth by Noah.

But everyone was really thinking about Gabriel and Sylar and that mad-one Abi. The revelations that went something like this:

Gabriel was alive.

He had a daughter he knew nothing about.

The mother of his daughter had married his brother.

His daughter from the future with an interestingly offensive arsenal of abilities had try to kill him by any means possible, not caring how many people she hurt in the process.

Mohinder had gotten off with her.

The scientist cursed himself. Why did he always have to go for the crazy ones? Maya had seemed nice enough but she turned out to be fickle and needy, Abi seemed to come on strongly, but then he got a glimpse of her 'issues' and wasn't sure he wanted to go near her again.

They all were glad to know Gabriel was still human, after all, he showed a lot of emotion at the realisation of his fatherhood, and the pain on his face at being confronted by a family that he cared about hating him. But on the other hand, they weren't sure how this was going to affect him and whether that would be it, whether he felt he had lost all connection to humanity and become even worse and unrelenting than before (though to be honest, Claire couldn't think of him getting any worse and any less relenting).

They split off after breakfast to go and run their various errands and attend to bits of business (like procuring more living space – seven of them in a two bedroom flat was somewhat overcrowded) before they met again to get dinner together.

Kelly was the only one who had not gone to breakfast with them, she still had an intense migraine from all the explosive emotion the night before. Claire agreed to go home and check up on her before they started dinner, seeing if she would like to join them.

She walked along the first floor corridor to get to the stairs when she saw one of the door handles had been melted right off. Claire's spidey sense started ringing the alarm bells and she pressed her ear to the door, hoping to find some randomly banal excuse for it, but all she could hear was the dread sound of Abi's voice. She sounded calm for once.

"I know I went berserk. I have several psychiatric problems." She admitted shyly. "One includes extreme mood-swings."

"I can sympathise." Came what she identified as Gabriel's voice (Sylar said a few of words in an English way).

"I know, I got one or two of them for you. Hereditary chemical imbalances in the brain. Nothing a few meds can't sort out." She said. "My problem is that two of the pills I used to take haven't been released yet. One of them is due out in about six years time. I think I'll be a bit screwed by then." She added.

Claire panicked for a moment and then collected herself and reached for her phone, and suddenly had to make it look like she was innocently texting as a resident passed her and passed her a look as if to suggest 'what are you doing lurking outside that room?'. By the time she had finished her text to her Dad telling him she knew where Abi and Gabriel were she decided to go in and see what else she could hear.


	7. Chapter 7 The Tower and Death

**Warnings: gets fucked up from here on, oc, violence/gore, horror, chara torture, looong, be ye warned there be fluff at the end!!!**

**Chapter seven - The Tower and Death**

Claire gave the door an experimental little push to see if it would open, and to her partial surprise it opened smoothly and without noise – which she was grateful for. As noiselessly as her rustling clothes would allow, she snuck into the apartment and down the small hall to just outside the living room.

"You did what?" Abi asked in a low, dangerous voice. Claire tensed and prickled, it was as if she could feel danger in the atmosphere, or maybe it was just the sensible reaction to the tone in the other woman's voice.

"I worked with Danko. I thought it would be a quick way to find new abilities. And it was." He said.

"You...worked with him. My god. After what he did to Nina's family... After what he did to ours..." She faded away into her own disturbed memories. She looked at him with disgust and contempt. "I thought you truly were different, that you rose above it all, that that made you special. But I see it now. You're no different than the rest of them. Weak and needy. The only thing that makes you any different is your collection of abilities. You don't deserve them if all you're going to do is pimp them out to someone stronger than you. Danko no less. You would have to go far to find a sorrier excuse for a man than him."

A sudden burst of energy came from her and she had Gabriel pinned against the wall, not only physically by the throat, but reinforced with a closely knit web of telekinesis he was having trouble of concentrating on dismantling where she was cutting off the blood supply to his brain.

Claire gripped the door frame, a sick feeling rising in her stomach at what was about to happen. Her little knuckles where white and her breath held, stomach clenched. Gabriel had no choice but to look at the swimming picture of Abi; her (no, his), dark eyes burning with triumph. He saw her face, but he saw himself looking back at him, smirking that familiar smug smile of power, the twitch of the cheek as the lips were tugged to one side, teeth bared almost predatorily, eyes sunken behind deep brows glowering at him with a lust for pain and power in that order. He saw himself in those eyes, he saw horror and the devil. He saw himself in that smirk, he saw sadism and a facade. He felt a wave of horror and fear hit him. She was about to do the one thing he had established that made _him_ special, that set him apart from everyone else, the thing that no one else could replicate, that was uniquely his. He was about to have it used on him. He was afraid she would steal everything from him that made himself separable from the crowd.

"You taught me this little trick nine years from now." She purred, on a high from the power, she could see why this intoxicated him as it did. "I bet you're really kicking yourself. You see, this is the only way for me to get abilities that can't be physically used on me." She smirked a little wider into that position he would stretch his mouth into when he was about to go in for the kill. She raised the two fingers, snapped them together and put them into position, as though making sure to find the right spot. "I wouldn't want to start off by cutting up your brain instead of just your skull, now would I?" She asked rhetorically. Frantically, his fearful eyes darted everywhere, anywhere for some sign or hope of salvation, his eyes fell on Claire, who was so horrified she stood frozen, like a mannequin, stuck in position and forced by herself to watch this appalling act.

"Gotcha." Abi said and with a satisfying 'crunch', began the sawing. A thin red line appeared across his forehead which paused for a moment before it wept and bled crimson liquid that fell down his whole face, dripping onto himself, onto Abi who was still close enough to touch, and it stained the floor. It fell into the natural curves of his face, some running into the channel either side of his nose and down under his eyes as though he were crying blood. He screamed; oh god how he screamed. A screech filled with physical and mental agony, he would happily die any other way than this. This was a violation...the only thing that set him apart and she was ripping it away from him. Somewhere in his head he begged for her to stop, he pleaded for the torture to end and let him die now while he had something of nothing left. He willed his voice not to express the entreaties, but that didn't stop his mind from screaming it. He didn't realise that Abi had Parkman's ability and could hear him begging, and broadcast it to everyone in the building.

Claire heard him. Heard Gabriel screaming for it to end and begging for death to come. She thought it would sound like music to her ears, of all the times she lay awake, unable to sleep for what he had done to her, she fantasised he would have this done to him, hunted and cornered like a helpless animal and made to beg for death. She wanted for so long for him to have a taste of his own medicine, but now she was actually confronted with it, she with was weeping. It was so wrong, and she wanted it to stop, but she could not move, and for all her invincibility, she had no power to stop Abi who looked like she would explode with the power and hatred within her. His eyes sometimes shifted to her, and each time they shared a moment of intense mutual pain and sorrow.

With a small, yet sickening thump, his crown hit the floor and his brain was exposed. Abi inhaled in concentration as she poked around, trying to find the spot he had taught her to use in the future some time. Claire winced as she recalled how he had done that too, poked and prodded until he found what he was looking for. She remembered her own outrage and trauma, the shock of the violation, but somehow this seemed more horrific. A daughter doing it to her own father.

"So easy to find." Abi smirked and with a stilted gasp she absorbed his abilities. Her smirk widened into a manic grin. "That was a good appetiser. Now, the fun begins." She vowed and dropped him. He was clearly alive, the rise and fall of his chest told Claire that much, but his eyes were glazed over, off in some distant land of his thoughts. She licked the blood of a few of her fingers. "Doesn't taste that different..." She mumbled to herself, no longer amused. He didn't move. Abi walked past Claire, absorbed in her own thoughts and completely ignorant, it would seem, to the cheerleader's presence.

Claire stood, still clutching to the door-frame, unable to move for horror for a good few minutes. Eventually she became aware of his gaze falling to her. She prized her numb fingers from the door and took a pace towards him. He looked utterly defeated. A shadow of his former self that ten minutes ago she would have given anything to see. Now she would give anything to forget the whole thing. She wanted to go over and at least put the top of his head back on, but should she help him? He did this to her, let's not forget that. Chased her and terrorised her for two years. She wasn't the only victim (though the only one to have survived), shouldn't he deserve this? And if he did (which he definitely did, she kept reminding herself), then why didn't it feel like it?

Claire had always trusted gut over mind, and now her gut screamed at her to help him. She was going to make an exception, but on an impulse, slowly made her way over and gently picked up his crown.

"Stay still." She managed to push out in a dry, raspy voice. Making sure she got it the right way round and in the right place, she replaced the cap over his brain and watched her ability (_her_ ability) work its magic. Once he was healed, he still didn't move. She sat on her knees in front of him, hoping for some kind of response. She went to the bathroom and wetted a flannel with warm water, just as her mother had done for her. Gently, she dabbed the blood away from his head and face, and his eyes occasionally followed her, but he did not move. She was beginning to think Abi had done some permanent damage that wasn't healing when suddenly he grabbed her arm. She started and instinctively pulled back, pulling him down and into her lap.

"She took it away from me..." He whispered, hoarse and sore from screaming.

"She took what?"

"The one thing that made me special. Now I'm just like anyone else." He said and wept. Claire froze. She wasn't exactly sure how to comfort a serial killer.

"No, you're not." She said the first answer that came to mind. "True, that was a 'unique' way of doing things, but we're all different. You are special." She said. She didn't know why she was offering such comfort, but she felt she had to.

"How?" He demanded like a child.

"Because you are you." She said simply. "No one is like you. Not even Sylar. You may be twins, but you are no less unique. I have never met anyone like you. Trust me, you leave quite an impression on everyone you meet." She said. Gabriel slowly picked himself up, still leaning heavily on the wall. Slowly he reached out a large hand for her petite one and encased it gently, drawing comfort from its warmth.

"I was wrong. Your ability isn't what makes you so special, Claire." He said. "The fact that you're sat here with me after that when you had every right to laugh in my face and kill me proves you are unique. I don't think anyone else would have done that." He said and gently squeezed her hand.

True to form, the king of bad-timing burst in at that moment, gun waving. He saw them sat on the floor, Gabriel holding Claire's hand and almost shot on sight.

"Dad, don't!" Claire pleaded quickly.

"What the hell happened here?" Peter asked, stunned at the blood everywhere.

"Abi. She...did to him what he did to me." She euphemised. Noah lowered his gun, slightly.

Parkman? He called over with his thoughts.

It's true. He said simply.

What are you getting from him?

It's weird, a mixture between nothing and screaming.

Trauma. God knows the bastard deserves it. He felt compelled to make the addition and Matt frowned at him. Noah hadn't heard the screams he had, and like Claire, he wished he could 'un-hear' them.

"What do we do know?" Peter whispered in Noah's ear.

"We kill him of course." Was the characteristically uncompromising response

"But look at him, Noah. I can't kill him when he's like that." He gestured to Gabriel who was almost physically shaking.

"Don't forget that monster did that to Claire – you're niece!" He hissed. "He deserves everything he gets."

"Speaking of Claire." He said and Noah turned his head for a moment to see Claire shuffled closer to Gabriel, his hand still over hers.

"Say something." She said gently.

"I don't know who I am anymore." He replied.

"What do you mean?"

"Abi...took away from me what made me different. You know the truth that I'm not Sylar, really." Claire didn't really know what to say. "I don't want to be Gabriel again." He said, almost like a child.

"Think of this as chance. You can be someone you want to be."

"But it won't let me!" He snapped and she flinched, Noah's finger tightened around the trigger for a second.

"Wh..what won't let you?" Claire asked, stammering through a little fright.

"My ability. The Hunger just gets worse every time I try to deny it. Elle tried to help me, and I tried to say no to it, but it overpowered me again and...and I killed her..." He said, with intense shame. As far as he was aware, Claire was the only person in the room. Noah lowered his gun completely now, sadly remembering the train wreck that was Elle. Claire made a waving motion as if to say 'leave us alone for a while'. Noah shook his head vigorously, but she glared at him persistently until he obeyed. Peter made hand gestures meaning 'I'll just be outside if you need me' and left, all still unsure they wanted to leave Claire alone with Gabriel.

"It's alright, Noah." Matt said. "He's not going to attack her."

"He's been trying for years, Parkman..."

"Yeah, and he succeeded a while back didn't he? He's got no reason to do it again." He said harshly and Noah scowled.

Claire hesitantly turned her hand round in Gabriel's to grasp him gently and he looked at her.

"Why are you here?" He asked again.

"What do you mean?" She was a little confused.

"Why are you sitting with me, holding my hand and giving me comfort?" He clarified.

"I can't leave you here like this." She said quietly. "I...I thought that this was what I wanted, to see you suffer after everything you had done to me and the people I love." She said honestly. "But, what happened was so wrong and so horrible, I don't wish it on anyone, not even you." He squeezed her hand weakly again.

"Thank you." He said mutely. "I don't want to be on my own anymore. I'm so sick of it." He said. "I thought I could handle it, but... I need someone, just one person..." He didn't want to finish the sentence. They were supposed to be enemies, sworn to kill each other or at least swat each other in passing since they both couldn't die.

"Is that why you killed Elle?" She asked. He paused.

"No. I killed her because The Hunger told me to. It won't be denied, if I try to say no it comes back with twice the force and I can barely control myself." He explained.

"What is The Hunger?"

"It's part of my ability. My intuitive aptitude means I can understand how anything works. But it comes with an urge, no, a _need_ to learn more. When I kill someone and take their power, The Hunger is sated for a moment, but then it comes back, demanding that I learn more, understand how more things work."

"Is that why you kill?"

"It used to be about to the power. Then I realised how it set me apart from every other person on the planet. Others had abilities too, but none of them were like me, could do what I did. Then it was because I couldn't deny The Hunger. It was like another person in my head, forcing me to do it."

"But you enjoyed it, I know you did." Claire said bitterly, remembering the taunting of her own experience with him.

"I'm not saying The Hunger was responsible for everything." He defensively replied.

Peter interrupted the moment by rushing in. Claire glared at him, but he shook it off.

"We have to go, the police are coming. The neighbours heard the screaming and called 911..."

"999." Claire corrected him.

"Whatever. They're on their way. We have to get out of the building." He said and Claire jumped to her feet. Gabriel, still feeling weak had to be pulled up by the two of them and carefully released to make sure he had his balance and then they hurriedly made their way to fire exit at the back and through the damp alleyways behind the building.

"Where are we going?" Claire asked Noah, who was inevitably leading. Back-up plan number B was in motion.

"There's a new block of flats a few roads down from here, half the apartments aren't sold yet. We can break into one of them and hide out for a while." Claire still had Gabriel's hand and was squeezing it rather tightly as her anxiety at the situation built up. He stared at her with fascination, she was still clinging to him and drawing some strength and support from him as they dashed away. He was somewhat surprised that, bringing up the rear directly behind him, Peter didn't try to kill him or anything, perhaps it was due to the connection he was enjoying with Claire at that moment. He wouldn't deny he was enjoying it, he had become attracted to Claire quite a while ago, he just hadn't had chance to elaborate on that since that day in Nathan's hotel room where he had almost succeeded in his plan to become the President. He admitted a small scoff at that notion now. It seemed very unappealing, especially compared to the alternative that was holding his hand at this point. He was sure Noah hadn't noticed yet, because his wrist had not been blown off yet, though he fancied that would attract more unwanted attention. They passed a cafe that had chairs and tables spilling outside and Claire whisked a man's jacket off the back of an unattended chair without anyone noticing and handed it to Gabriel.

"You need to cover up the blood on your shirt." She said and, he thought, reluctantly let go of his hand. He slipped it on, and just as a wailing police car came round the corner, heading to where they were fleeing from. His hand felt cold without Claire's and wished he could take it back, but wasn't sure she would appreciate it. They came to a crossing and had to wait nervously in the crowd accumulating on the pavement to be able to cross. Claire was jostled forward and into the back of Gabriel who turned to see if she was alright. She scowled at the person behind her who gave her a look to suggest he didn't care. Gabriel then scowled at him, and the boy apologised to Claire, and he took her hand boldly as the crowd started to move again. He needed her warmth and support still. He was an inch away from shaking and wanting to break down, in front of Noah or not.

"Here. Look normal everyone." Bennet said and they went into the reception area of the new building. It even smelled new. A few people milled around downstairs, a caretaker, a resident, an admin. Matt sent out messages to them all to just ignore the big group of people coming in and they tried to slip out of the scope of the CCTV. Noah picked a random door and tried the lock. It didn't budge.

"Is anyone in there Matt?" He asked. Matt cocked his head, listening for thoughts, but he heard none. He shook his head. "If it looks like its inhabited, we'll try a different one." He said before going to force the lock.

"Wait." Gabriel said, and everyone took a step back. Noah looked at him suspiciously. With a flick of his shaky hand the lock clicked into place and the door swung open, as if to welcome them in. The place was still wrapped in cellophane almost, so it was obviously unoccupied. Peter locked the door again after they had all got in and Gabriel collapsed in a chair. Noah was going around, checking the place and securing all the possible entry routes. Claire sat beside Gabriel, who still had not let go of her hand. She could feel him shaking, though trying very hard not to in front of the others. Their talk earlier had been interrupted, and she felt like she really wanted to continue it, not only to satisfy her own curiosity, but she thought he might like to get a few more things off his chest too.

"Are we safe, dad?" She asked Noah, who returned and holstered his gun.

"For the moment. Hopefully we won't be under too much pressure, but we will need to find another place to live. We'll sneak our things from the apartment to another one as soon as we've found it."

"Has anyone contacted Kelly?" Peter asked. Claire felt so stupid.

"No. I'll call her." Matt said, his cell phone already out and dialling. He went into another room to speak to Kelly.

"Claire, can I speak to you please?" Noah asked in a polite voice and indicated to another room for a private conversation. She hesitantly let go of Gabriel, whose hands balled up and went white with the pressure as she left. He felt cold again. Peter was left in the room with only Gabriel for company.

"Claire. I need to know what you want to do with Gabriel." He asked, outright when the door had been gently closed.

"What I want to do with him?" She repeated.

"I was going to kill him as soon as I got the chance, but I did notice you were holding his hand the whole way here. That monster attacked you, Claire, don't forget that, what he did to you was unforgivable."

"But that doesn't mean he deserved it happening to him. No one does." She said. Silently, he disagreed.

"Claire, we've tried to help him in the past, and it's always resulted in bloodshed. If you choose to do this, you will have all the responsibility for preventing him from killing again." He said. Claire wondered when exactly she had signed up for saving the world from Gabriel. "I want you to know that if he takes one more life, I will kill him. And he will stay dead, I promise you that." He added with grim responsibility. It looked to Claire as if she had no choice. She nodded. She wasn't sure if she even wanted to help him yet. She couldn't explain why she had kept a hold of his hand all the way from the other apartment building, but there was a particular warmth he afforded her and a strength she felt comforted by.

Matt called Noah and he gave his daughter a proud smile and kiss on the forehead before heading out. She couldn't help thinking he was in his element, a semi-crisis surrounded by friend and foe, schemes upon plots within plans. Claire searched around the apartment for the bathroom and quickly found the white-tiled and chromed room. She locked the door, sat on the edge of the bath and ran her hands through her hair. She inhaled deeply and wondered how the hell she suddenly got dumped with the responsibility of saving Gabriel from himself and the world from him. Noah had said they had tried to help him before, but Claire somehow doubted that. When it came to powerful people like him, or really just anyone to be honest, it wasn't so much help as manipulation. Especially if Angela Petrelli was in on it. Especially.

She went to the sink and splashed her face with cold water, and looked into the mirror. She watched the tiny droplets of water run down her face, eager to be reunited with the flow of the tap, and, for a second, she saw her face as she had seen it just after Gabriel had attacked her, her face dripping with blood and crimson running down her face, spurred on by gravity. She then saw Gabriel's face as his head was being ripped off, running in familiar scarlet like tears and water. She took a good hard, long look at her face. It was young, the skin still springy, the dimples in her face cute, not wrinkly. She would never be wrinkly. She wondered if she would stay looking this age forever. She wondered, because she was being ID'd every time she went out, and the bouncers always gave her a suspicious look. She wondered if Gabriel would ever age either.

She thought back to what he said that time in Nathan's hotel room, as she was forcing her to drink wine with him (the memory still infuriated her). They would never die. The whole world would change and alter beyond recognition before their eyes, except each other. He had made some rather nasty insinuations about her coming to love him and how he intended to do that, but it seemed all out the window now. He was clearly no longer the same person. Abi had shattered that persona. He had to start again. And it looked like he wanted her to be there to help him with that. The way things seemed to be going, she didn't have much of a choice in the matter. It always seemed to be about what destiny wanted of her, not what she wanted. Like the power guiding fate somehow decided to make her do all these things, never once considering what she might have liked to have happened. Sighing, she dried her face.

A strange pull tugged at her in a way she couldn't describe. It was as though she was homesick, even though she wasn't. If felt like she missed something or someone who was a hundred miles away without lamenting that they/it were gone. She made her way back to the front room and Gabriel looked physically relieved to see her. Maybe that was it. She sensed when he was beginning to need her again.

"Kelly's alright. She was almost questioned by the police, everyone in the building was, but she never even heard the screaming, or wasn't sure if she did. Her head was so bad it blinded her and paralysed one half of her body. She's in the hospital getting treatment for her migraine. When the police were in there her nose started to bleed and they put her in the ambulance they had called. She'll be ok." Matt reported to them.

"We're going to stay the night here, then I'll get in contact with my people back home, get them sort us out a place to stay. We need to take shifts on watch. I don't want to be caught off guard. It's probably over-cautious, but I'm not taking any chances." He said. "Matt contact the others, let them know the situation and we'll meet them tomorrow." He ordered and left the room.

"I don't know about anyone else, but I'm starved. We never got that dinner. Shall we get take out? I saw a Chinese just down the road." Peter said. Claire felt sick, she didn't think her stomach would settle for quite a while after what she had seen today, but she knew they would need food, so nodded slowly in agreement.

"I'll go with you, make sure no one remembers us." Matt said. They said they would just get a spread of dishes and people would help themselves. Claire watched them go, and carefully locked the door after them, quick to return to Gabriel.

"So, you've got a clean slate now. You can become whoever you want to be." She said.

"What if I just wanted to be me? Is that ok? Or must I always strive to be something more? I always just liked fixing watches, but my mother said I should be something more." He said, tentatively.

"My dad wanted me to be the cute little cheerleader for the rest of my life. He fought me tooth and nail every time I wanted to be a part of this whole thing, The Company, Primatech, every time I wanted to fight back." She had to stop herself from saying 'from going after you'. "I had to lay it down for him, tell him that this was who I was now, and I had left the cute teenager-cheerleader behind me. And he had to accept that." She said, hoping that if she talked about her own experiences she would not be treading on his toes.

"I figured as much when I worked for him that time. Steven Canfield, I think it was." He recalled. She nodded.

"At the end of the day, we have to be who makes us happy. If we can be ourselves, other people will come to appreciate that." She said.

"I don't think I've ever felt particularly comfortable in my own skin. Apart from one time." He said, fading away into a memory.

"When was that?" She asked.

"When I was with Elle. She was shot and we stumbled into a mart to bandage it up. We were running from your father of all people. We ran into the warehouse part out back, I hid her and tried to stand up to Noah. I didn't have my powers at the time, so he pummelled me as you can imagine. He slit my throat with a Stanley knife." He said, Claire's eyes shot open. "That time, fighting for Elle who I thought liked me, I felt kinda comfortable. But then it turned out she was using me like everyone else, so I didn't feel so bad letting The Hunger take over again." Claire was dazed. She knew had gone after Gabriel while she was sick. But she never knew that he did this. She felt sicker than before.

"So that's what he was doing." She whispered to herself.

"What?"

"During the eclipse, I lost my powers too. I got real sick. I even died, but when I was in the hospital, in all that pain, and I really needed him, he was out cutting you up..." She elaborated.

"You were dying?" He confirmed. She nodded.

"It seems his hatred for you runs deeper than his love for me..." She said sadly. Gabriel pulled her hand up so she had to look at him.

"That's not true. I think the only reason I'm here and not dead is because he loves and trusts you so much." He said with all sincerity. She didn't reply. Some part of her knew he was right. With her wrist so close to his face he could tell her watch had stopped.

"Your watch, Claire." He said, unable to hear the rhythmic tick. She looked puzzled and turned her gaze to the little face and realised the hands weren't moving. She wrung her hand and frowned when that didn't get it working again.

"That's just going to make it worse." He said.

"Can...you fix it for me?" She asked, wondering of this was the wrong this to ask. Gently he took her wrist and undid the clasp, letting the metal run off her arm and into his hand. He held it up in front of him, studying it carefully. A look of well-practised concentration and study fell peacefully on his face, and he took the back off with an invisible hand. He summoned out all the parts and let the tiny cogs float in front of his eyes until he saw the problem, a cog had become misshapen, probably warped from the heat of Abi's energy waves she had thrown out in the club last night. His mind screamed when he thought of that dreadful woman, the reaction showing on his face too and he stalled.

"What's wrong?" She asked urgently, putting her hand on his in the familiar gesture of comfort. With her touch the memory faded and he calmed again. She was like the personification of peace, the one who could quell the raging monster inside him with a sweet look or a gentle touch. Now that she looked at him like a human being. He had once been content to have had any reaction from her that meant she noticed him, but he wanted her love, not her hate. He wanted her to look at him and need him. To need him as much as he needed her, though he wasn't going to admit that yet.

"Nothing." He said.

"What's wrong with it?" She asked, indicating to her watch.

"One of the cogs is warped." He said, her face fell.

"Right, so I'll need to take it to get repaired then?" She asked. She didn't want to be without her watch for a long time.

"No, I can fix it for you." He said with a small glimmer of a smile, and told her to observe closely. He used his mind to tell the cog to turn into liquid and hover in mid-air. With a look of supreme concentration, he used his telekinesis to shape it in the exact size and form as one of its counterparts. He blew on it gently to set it and touched it to make sure it was solid again before telling all the pieces to go back into the watch-face in the order they came out in. With a mental flick, he set the mechanism back into work and the ticking resumed. He held it close to his ear and smiled in triumph to hear that it was operating with an even tick and should now work again fine. He snapped the back on and handed it back to her. She was amazed.

"That was really cool." She said, listening to the ticking herself. He put it back on for her, using the opportunity to feel her smooth skin under his fingers.

"You think so?" He asked. She nodded. He smiled very slightly, but Claire just knew that what she had said had made him very happy. It was strange for her, she had never thought of him as a human being with human needs and human problems before, but this evening she had had her world turned upside down on its head, and he happened to be a part of it. She noticed her had not let go of her hand since replacing the watch on her wrist.

He hadn't said anything for a while now, and Claire wondered what was on his mind. He was clearly thinking, his brows were furrowed in a particularly pensive way, but she couldn't figure out what. He was beginning to experience doubt for the first time of being with Claire. He was worried that she might turn out like Elle (not a sociopath), just someone to manipulate him and turn him into a weapon for them. He wanted to be his own person, he wanted to be special in a way that was not defined by them, he didn't want to be compared with anyone else – he wanted to be the object of comparison.

After Chinese they went to rest. Claire was given the bedroom, naturally, and Gabriel kept in the front room where he could be kept under close surveillance. Noah took first watch and sat in the chair, keeping a closer eye on Gabriel than the door. The killer got the couch and he had gotten to sleep only after Claire had stayed with him until his eyes closed and the throws of slumber came over him. Noah seethed at how he suddenly clung to his daughter like a safety blanket. Just because he had had his head ripped open. Claire had made it almost entirely on her own. She had the support of her parents, of course, but she never really sat and talked to them about it, even though he had prepared for it, and even practised a few of the things he would say to her. What disturbed him even more was Claire's willingness to be there for this monster, she would not leave him until he settled, and had (this had not escaped his notice) let go of Gabriel except to eat. It was almost as if they were...no! He was not going to go there. On more than several occasions he seriously considered pulling his gun and shooting Gabriel until he definitely hit the sweet spot and put him out of action permanently. He knew Claire would not be pleased, but she had been plenty angry at him for lesser things and would eventually forgive him for it. He even took out his gun and nearly cocked it before he got control of his thoughts and holstered the weapon.

Claire laid on the bed. There were no sheets or covers, but a plain mattress on the frame. She had her father's jacket laid over her like a blanket, but she could not sleep. The images of Gabriel's head being sawn open, the look in his eyes as though his soul were being cleaved as well as his skull, and the screams that made her heart want to stop beating. She couldn't get the screaming out of her ears, it haunted her in the darkness and eerie silence of the building and made her want to scream herself. She remembered back to her own experience. She had not screamed nearly as much as he did, she had tried so hard not to give him the satisfaction of showing the pain he had inflicted on her.

She was helping him when she hadn't even forgiven him yet. That couldn't be right. But she didn't want to get into that conversation when he seemed in such a fragile state. Would she have to put her own feelings aside for the sake of another again? Probably. Destiny seemed so demanding! She didn't want to, but at the same time, she wanted to go back into the front room and at least sit with him. She couldn't figure out the reason for needing to be near to him now. Perhaps it was that they had shared the pain of the incident. She couldn't anyway, her dad was out there, on first watch. She lay on the mattress trying to think of something else, but all she could hear were screams echoing, undying, in her ears.

**A/N: The title of the chapter 'The Tower and Death' refers to the two tarot cards of the same name which represent a complete collapse of established ideas, principles, perceptions etc. Death is the breaking of the ego, the mask we build up for ourselves until only our true self is left, which is, by nature, traumatic. Just in case you were curious :p**


	8. Chapter 8 I Just Feel

Warnings: threat, new ability, fluff, bit wanky, nearly-nudity at end

**Chapter Eight - I Just Feel**

Claire had gone out on her own for breakfast, Gabriel was still asleep and was not about to disturb him, but in the same vein, could not have stayed cooped up in there with her dad, Peter and Matt all worrying about something or another. She found a little shop that sold her a coffee and a croissant and she sat on a bench in the street, glad that the noise of passing traffic and chattering peoples blocked out the noise of the screams that had haunted her all night.

She had not gotten any sleep that night. She did not think she would get any sleep for the next hundred years if the screaming did not stop in her ears. She thought it would drive her plenty mad by then. She made a mental note to ask for Kelly's help when she was better. Kelly had a wonderful technique of making a person confront their worst fear and induce them into a state of calm, and do this repeatedly, each time gradually loosening her effect on them until they became naturally calm themselves. Perhaps she could help get rid of the screams, or if, failing that, Matt could fish them out of her memory. Though she wasn't sure she wanted to forget any more. She just didn't want to have to hear it night and day. The whole gruesome incident had made her strangely close to Gabriel in a way she would never have believed this time the previous day. It was strange how a shared experience could have changed her forever. She groaned as she felt the weight on her shoulders. She wanted Gabriel to be a good person, but didn't want to manipulate him, and was really worried that she would do it inadvertently, or he would think she was trying to control him. That would be a one-way ticket to scalp-less land and a whole string of gory murders.

The croissant was gone far too quickly for Claire's liking and was considering buying another one when she felt the strange tug again. She wondered if Gabriel had some kind of psychic ability that had initiated this bond, but either way she heavily picked herself up and began to make her way back to the apartment building. She walked, not looking where she was going and was surprised when she was suddenly grabbed and yanked off the street. She tried to squeak a protest when a hand clapped harshly over her mouth.

"No need to say anything, pretty girl." Came a rough male voice, one she did not recognise. She felt a hand rummage through her pockets, her cell phone and purse where taken out. She didn't struggle, just kept still and hoped they would release her soon. A second voice spoke to her captor, but she couldn't make out what they were saying, all she heard was a laugh. She began to get very worried and afraid they intended to take more than just her phone and purse. The tug got harder, he must have woken up in a bad way, its pull was tight. She mentally yanked back, hoping he would feel it and come to her aid.

"Claire!" He cried out and doubled over, clutching his stomach where he had felt a sensation like being punched in the gut.

"What about her?" Noah demanded, sensing she was in trouble. Gabriel said nothing and rushed out of the door at a pace they could hardly keep up with.

"Where is she?" Peter asked.

"She went out to get some food." He replied. Gabriel looked around him and down the street with a penetrating stare. He could feel by the sick feeling in his stomach that she was in trouble and needed him. Matt tried reaching out, filtering hundreds of thoughts through his mind, trying to find Claire's voice, but there were so many to get through it would take hours. Suddenly Gabriel went very still. He seemed to go grey and statue-like. Many passers-by stared, wondering if it was a street act. He stayed like this for a few minutes, the other three getting more and more worried by the second, but not knowing what they could do. At last Noah issued orders for him and Matt to go in opposite directions and look for her, while Peter remained with Gabriel.

Peter stood, waiting, he passed glances down the street. He looked back to Gabriel, and was shocked to find him gone, vanished. He frantically looked around and saw the man's tall frame darting down the street at an incredible speed. He followed as best he could.

Gabriel ran, blood thumping on his chest, and would it have been for the circumstances he would have enjoyed the thrill of the hunt again, but this was no time to relish the adrenaline rush. He knew where Claire was, thanks to an ability he had picked up while working with Danko, he could pick up the traces of himself on her and it grew stronger as he was going in the right direction. He wasn't sure why he cared as much as he did, he shocked himself at his own surge of emotion. Perhaps he saw Claire as his one last chance for being comfortable in his own skin. He kept saying that about each last friend, or girlfriend, he had had, but she seemed so special. She was so special that he thought if she did ever betray him then he knew there was no chance for him. She was so forgiving, so warm and trusting that if she couldn't hold a place for him in her heart, then he knew no one on this world would. He knew (as he had threatened her in the hotel room) that she could not be physically hurt for long, but her spirit could be broken. He saw that spirit as his glimmer of hope to be finally accepted in the world, to be cared for, and he knew that finally he had actual use for all his incredible abilities, other than his own personal amusement. There was no point in having such power if there was no use for it. He would use them to protect Claire. He twitched a small smile, because that sounded so right.

He heard her scream and changed direction, making a straight line to her sound. Claire had managed to get into a fight, and the burly man who had held her, smacked her hard across the face, flooring her.

"Stupid bitch bit me." He scowled and kicked her in the gut. She groaned and curled up protectively. She cursed having the ability to feel pain again. He yanked her jacket off and she yanked at the tug in her stomach again, hoping that he would come soon, because she was worried about this man's intentions now. Gabriel, now only round the corner, gasped, and clutched his gut as he felt her tug for him again, he could tell she was panicking to yank so hard at this strange bond they seemed to share now. The mugger kicked her in the back and she screamed out again, the final cry that allowed Gabriel to turn the corner and find her. He stood, tall and looming, breathing heavily from the sprinting and eyes frantically searching for Claire. They found her, on the floor, wincing in pain with her hands to her back, as though pushing something inside back into place.

"Who the hell are you?" The mugger demanded, put off that someone was interrupting his fun. Gabriel didn't even give them a chance and extended his arm, suspending the two men by their throats with invisible hands.

"The bogyman." He growled and smirked at their pain, as they gasped for breath.

"Stop!" Claire protested. She was partial to inflicting a bit of retaliatory pain on the two muggers, but drew the line at this.

"I can't have them harming you Claire!" He said and squeezed a little harder.

"I don't think they're going to hurt me anymore! Look, you said you wanted to start again, this is your chance! Just let it go." She urged. He looked at her, gazing deep into her eyes, so deep she thought he was looking past them and at her soul. Their gaze didn't break as they heard the two men drop to the floor and scramble to their feet.

"Give the lady back her things." He growled at them. She didn't need to look as the men apologetically handed back her jacket, phone and purse. "It would be better for you two if you if you forget this ever happened." He said in a commanding voice.

"Right you are." One of them said and they ran off. There was silence.

"Are you alright?" He asked gently, running his eyes down her to check for any bruises he knew wouldn't be there.

"Sure. Thanks." She said, smiling softly.

"Jesus, you two! I was worried, you disappeared and I couldn't find you!" Peter exclaimed, as he came screeching round the corner. "You alright?" It appeared as though his question was directed only at Claire, but he meant it half to Gabriel too.

"Yeah." She said hesitantly, still a little alarmed from what had happened.

"What happened?" He asked, wondering why, if Gabriel was playing the hero (or at least rescuer), there wasn't huge sprays of blood around.

"I was mugged, but he got here before anything really bad happened." She said, looking shyly to Gabriel, grateful for her rescue.

Claire was freshening up in a cafe. Peter sat, slightly awkwardly, sat next to Gabriel in the small place, both gripping coffees.

"Say it. I know you're dying to." Gabriel growled at Peter. Peter thought about taking offence, but didn't.

"I'm really surprised. I can't believe the way you went after her, to protect her. I don't think even I could have found her as quickly. It was as though she really meant a lot to you." He said. It was not the answer Gabriel was expecting, but it was such a typical Peter-response, nice and willing to believe the best in him. He frowned at the last comment.

"Why do you think she wouldn't mean a lot to me?" He shot back, he was grumpy that Peter was ready to assume the worst about him.

"Because you two have known each other for less than a day." He said, so frustratingly logical. Gabriel didn't have a biting answer for such niceness.

"Ok. I take your point." He sighed. "I just feel something with her that I can't explain." He said. He wondered whether he should make the addition he almost did. He looked at Peter, trying to discern whether he was trustworthy. "Don't let this go any further, but she saw...everything." He said. Peter knew what he meant. He wasn't sure why he demanded on such secrecy, but he nodded anyway, the look on Gabriel's face showed appreciation.

That evening they settled into a hotel which Noah found them for emergency usage, and they settled in for an early night. Claire sat on the bed and stared out the window. It wasn't much of a view. Through the netted curtain was a view of the street that was busy with traffic, cars spraying innocent pedestrians with sprays of dirty water that had fallen that evening and on them.

Her hair was wet from the shower and she sat in the complimentary bathrobe that hung on the back of the bathroom door. It was starchy from so many washes, but it was comfortable enough for now. She actually had no pyjamas as all their clothes from the apartment where unreachable for the continued police presence. She didn't mind sleeping in her underwear for one night, she could cope with that. She nearly groaned as she felt an almost shy tug. She wanted to sit alone for some reason she couldn't explain, maybe it was to wallow in self-pity. Probably not the best of ideas and with an almost reluctance, she tugged him slightly back. She wasn't sure what the hell this strange connection was, but she kinda liked it. She couldn't explain what it was, where it came from, why they had connected so soon after being only somewhat nice to each other; she wondered if it was one of his abilities and hadn't told her, or less likely: he didn't know. But she couldn't really imagine him killing a Special and not knowing what power he was taking. The knock at her door came sooner than expected, she at least thought she would be able to get dressed first, but it seemed he had tentatively tugged her when he was standing right in front of his door, ready to go. She worried for a second about her state of relative undress, but the insistent knock told her she needed to go to him. Coyly, she opened the door, but held it only ajar, showing enough to let him know she was in a bathrobe and little more.

"I didn't realise." He said simply.

"What can I do for you?" She asked, she had thought she was going to let him in and sit with her, but now he was standing at her door, she was suddenly reluctant to invite him in.

"I...wanted to see if you were ok from earlier." He said, covering up his true motives.

"Nice cover, but you're going to have to do better than that." She said with a slight smile.

"Fine." If he did that sort of thing, he would have pouted. He paused, hoping she would know what he meant, but she was determined to have him say it. She knew that, apart from posing as someone else and she would know when he was doing that, he never lied. He had never told her a lie that hurt her in the ways Nathan and Noah's lies hurt her. If he said it, he meant it – whatever that might mean for her. "You're going to make me say it aren't you?" He said, as if reading her mind. He really wanted to make the comment that he knew how her mind works from first-hand experience, but that really didn't seem appropriate now.

"Uh huh." She nodded and smiled tenaciously. He sighed, not liking this sentimental stuff.

"I wanted..." He broke away, _really _not liking this sentimental stuff. "I needed to see you. For some reason you bring calm. I was starting to feel panic from..." She knew what he meant and didn't want him to have to repeat it; she nodded at him to move on. He didn't have anything left to say, so they hovered there in semi-awkward silence. "Can I come in?" He asked, getting to the point.

"I've just got out the shower." She said, and indicated to her bathrobe.

"I'm not here for anything sordid." He growled. He thought she would know better than that. She didn't want to irritate him any further, so opened the door.

"My dad must not find out." She said severely. He sat on the little chair in the corner and smoothed his hair back. He didn't say anything, just sat there, lost in his thoughts. "Umm, can I ask you something?" She said, knowing what his response would be to this question and his next one. He looked at her as if to say 'ok, go ahead'. She concentrated for a second and tugged at him. His hand went to his gut, and that gave her the answer. "Did you feel that? In your gut?" She asked. He nodded. "What's going on?" He took a moment to think.

"I'm not sure. I heard once that my abilities may be controlled by my emotions, or something similar. I never thought that was much true, but perhaps it is more so than I wanted to admit." He said, mutely. He was thinking deeply. "I picked up an ability when I was with Danko, to know where people are who I've touched, sort of an upgrade of clairsentience." He said. He saw her wince. "Angela fed me that one. Like a good puppy." He said bitterly.

"You think it's that?" She asked, even though he obviously did because otherwise he wouldn't have said it.

"Do you want me to try and turn it off?" He asked, making it clear he wanted to keep it on.

"No, I just wanted to know what was happening." She said quietly and finally contented to sit on the edge of the bed, pulling her robe further down her legs nervously. She could sit with him fine, but not when she was one robe away from nothing, she felt...intimidated. She fidgeted. He rose and went for the door, without a word. "What's wrong?" She asked quickly, rising and following him round the bed to the door.

"You're not comfortable with me here." He said simply and opened the latch.

"No, that's not it." She said, trying to make him feel more comfortable. The familiar twitch in the base of his skull told him what he already knew.

"You're lying Claire." He said in a voice that told her he was disappointed. She grabbed his arm as he went to turn the handle and open the door.

"Please stay." She said, softly. He couldn't resist. Something inside of him growled at her ability to control him with just words. He swore no one would ever be able to tell him what to do or _make_ him do anything ever again, but he couldn't help it. He stopped and slowly his hands withdrew from the door. She wrapped the robe even more tightly around herself, drawing the fabric as close to her as possible.

"Why do you ask me to say when you don't want me here?" He asked. He didn't look at her, for fear she would think he was ogling her.

"Because I want your company." She said and sat down again, making gestures that he should too. Reluctantly, he went back to the chair, but she grabbed his arm and guided him down to sit on the bed next to her.

"Why do you care?" He demanded, he wanted to know. She should have laughed in his face and killed him. Instead she put his head back on and let him take her hand.

"I'm not like you. I don't understand everything." She said, with a cute little smile. She was trying to make him feel better. "I just feel." She said and took his hand in her own. It was about twice as big as hers, but it fitted into his and felt warm. He had to admit that this is what he wanted. He wanted to be closer, but wasn't in a rush. They had forever, after all. She hadn't lied. She did feel, and from the way she averted her gaze from his eyes he guessed she was feeling a lot. He still wasn't sure exactly what it was though. He brushed his arm against her robe, trying to see if the memories it had experienced threw any light on the situation. He instantly regretted it. Images of the whole life of the bathrobe flooded into his mind, many images of the bathroom from the back of the door, the inside of the washing machine and several sordid pictures he really didn't want to see. He also saw the recent history, and suddenly became uncomfortably aware of how it was covering her quite intimately. He shuffled.

He got up again, he couldn't stay here with her like this. There were many types of hunger, and a certain one was making him unable to stay here without trusting himself with her.

"What's wrong?" She asked again, rising with him.

"I'll let you finish your evening in peace." He made the awkward and excuse and practically ran for the door.

"No!" She insisted, and forcefully grabbed him arm, made him face her, jumped up onto her tip-toes, grabbed his face and kissed him. His eyes widened and he tried to pull away, too shocked and confused about her motives to want to give in, but she held onto him, crushing their lips together. Unable to resist he softened into her, taking full advantage of the moment. Her hands stopped clutching his face and snaked round his back, pulling herself closer to him. He rested his hands on her waist, gently pulling her into him, their bodies fitting together snugly and warmly. After a long time, her face inched away to break away, but he pursued her and pushed for another, long, sensual kiss. Eventually he consented to let go of her. She was slightly breathless, looking up at him from the warm embrace, smiling shyly.

"What was that Claire?" He asked of her with a raised eyebrow and smug smirk.

"I told you I just feel, and that felt right." She replied.

"That's cute." He said, amused, and planted a long, gentle kiss on her lips.


	9. Chapter 9 Wedding Album

**Chapter nine. Warnings: ooc, oc, more fluff, pain infliction, revelations**

A week or so later, they had been at the club (Gabriel had disguised himself to prevent family repercussion), talking about ways in which the two organisations could help each other. Noah and Gwin seemed to have found common ground in a business-like and frank attitude which made things go ten times faster than anyone would have thought they would go. They had gotten to know a little about the three Dana sisters; daughters of a old family line, they inherited a lot of money and property throughout the British Isles (both Claire and Noah thought this was a little too similar to the Petrilli's and wondered where the Angela-equivalent was and how to get rid of them). Gwin was the middle child and had the ability to, quote 'mess with other powers'. She could take them away, suppress or boost them, or even take them into herself. She explained that this helped in the rehabilitation process of Specials with extreme abilities. She refused to say a word or tactfully steered the conversation away from her pregnancy and the other sisters also kept very silent about the whole matter. Peter got that feeling that he 'wouldn't understand' if he knew, so he didn't think about it. Morgan was the youngest sister and a fearsome strong-woman with super super strength (as Mohinder had dubbed it), and her skin became bluer the more power she was using. Apparently her invulnerability was tied into the level of strength she was using, so the more muscles she used, the more impenetrable her skin was. Raewyn was introduced to them last, although Gwin rarely went anywhere without her oldest sibling, she had even more rarely spoken and had not come out of the shadows. She could turn into shadow and move freely about in the dark, and absorb objects (and people) into her darkness. This explained why Gwin had threatened to let Raewyn 'eat' Abi or Gabriel, as when she took someone into her darkness, they did not come out until she decreed it. All three were very serious.

Mohinder, despite being present at all the meetings, was in a dark mood. He had not quite gotten over the night Abi had gone berserk, and what he heard about afterwards. He was horrified at the news that Gabriel had been scalped, but disappointed he had not stayed dead. This appalled himself for a little while; he believed it to be an inhuman thought to wish such suffering and death on someone else, but his will hardened as he realised he had no true sympathy for Gabriel. Mohinder found himself only wishing he could have been the one to inflict such torture. He found the guilt at this notion came in waves and one day he would dream about killing the man he hated more than anything else on this planet, and worrying he was losing his own humanity to that monster, even if indirectly.

He also loathed himself for the ease with which he had taken to her, before it all kicked off. She only had to batter her eyelids a few times and buy him his favourite drink and he was all over her, hands and lips. He felt like a bit of a tart. But what felt worse was that he had fallen for the psychopath. He had gotten in with the utter loony. The crazy future girl who has no sense of people around her, as demonstrated by her willingness to blow up an densely populated area for the sake of lightly grilling one man (who hasn't committed half the crimes she angry for yet), and her conscienceless sadism in making her own father beg for death to an entire building of people (however unintentional; damn, she broadcast it!) whilst doing the one thing that was so precious to him. Even he couldn't have thought to do that to the man. At first, Peter had ribbed him about it gently, about how Mohinder had snogged the madwoman, but the jibes had not been well received, and though he never said anything, the scientist would have put money on Parkman having told Peter to stop.

It had been a long and intense meeting for him with the three sisters, talking in depth about the Specials they had encountered in Britain; everything from which powers they had seen to geographical distribution, distribution between the sexes, races, when abilities are first displayed, all that sort of thing. He had a lot swimming around in his head, so he didn't really notice when the door opened a little easier than it should have. He threw the briefcase on the chair and headed straight for the kitchen when a shadow in the corner of the room moved and he froze. Slowly, he turned to see what it was and two eyes shone back at him, enhanced by a strange backlight.

It was Abi. She was leaning heavily against the corner, bathed in shadow, and flashes of light occasionally flared up.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, nervously.

"I need...your help." She gasped. Her breath and speech was laboured, and she sounded as if she was in pain.

"With what?" He said tentatively, he wasn't sure if he really wanted to know.

"All these abilities I took from my father... I can't control them. They're all fighting each other for top spot and it's eating me inside out." She forced out with great effort. Mohinder stood there, horrified. She stepped out into the light and he could see her muscles straining, her eyes bloodshot and burns over her arms. She was crying heavily and the tears crackled with bright blue before they stung her face viciously. "I need your help." She pleaded, she clutched herself, the parts that were in the most pain. Mohinder felt decisive for the first time in a while.

"No. I don't want to have anything to do with you." He told her sternly. She flung him a desperate look. "You tortured your own father and left him to break and rot, you take his abilities and now you want _my_ help controlling them?" He rolled off, incredulously. He thought he saw her break inside.

"I hoped you would understand..." She whispered, to pained to speak.

"Understand? I may have never gotten on with my father but I would have never done him harm!" He raised his voice in his anger. "I have no love for Gabriel, but what you did was inhuman. I thought he was a monster. Now I see that you truly do befit the title. You sicken me." He spat and backed away from her, to make it very clear he would not be offering her any comfort or kindness. She fell to her knees and wept a sob that seemed to echo through the walls. After many awkward moments she raised her head to look at him, dishevelled and pathetic.

"Then do one thing for me. Look after this more me. It means everything to me." She said and pointed to a blue travelling case. It stood neatly by the bookcase. "Please, just look after it and I promise I will never bother you again." She entreated him. A suitcase? That wasn't bother at all, it could just sit there. He made no movement and she took that to signify an affirmative answer. She gave him one last pained looked, glanced at the case as if wishing her best friend farewell and vanished.

Mohinder wasn't sure how long he was stood there for, but he ventured it was quite a while. Eventually he moved and the first thing he did was take out his phone and call Noah Bennet.

The Man With A Plan was out of the city at that point, and unable to get back for a good few hours. Mohinder spent a good hour in the chair sat opposite the case and engaged in a staring contest with it. It was as though if he looked at it long enough he would see what was inside and what was so special about it to Abi. He wanted to open it and look inside so badly, but at the same time he felt it might be a can of worms he didn't want to open. Not to mention if it was just full of clothes then that would make him a bit of a pervert.

Eventually Mohinder chanced death by madwoman's travelling case and started his investigation by unzipping the slim front compartment. It was a photo frame, and the image it encased sent shockwaves down his spine several times over. It was a wedding photograph, of a very happy looking couple, in Chennai. She was the bride and...he was the groom. He felt his legs weaken underneath him and sat in the chair again, trying to take it all in. It must be one of her keepsakes from the future. Her wedding photo. His wedding photo? He wasn't sure. But it was unmistakable, and he amazed himself by how happy he appeared to be, and he wondered to himself several times how he could possibly have contemplated marrying and being content with that nutcase.

His curiosity now took on a new intensity and wondered what other heart-stopping revelations lay in wait for him in the blue suitcase of future-weirdness. Soon he opened the main compartment and found it split into two parts, so he started on the left. Inside was a jewellery box, some CD's and a hefty photo album. On the front it was made clear to the reader that it was a scrapbook of Abi's life. Everything from a family tree, to baby pictures, to a few weeks before she left the future. There were snapshots of a family trip to a bar, playing pools alongside Gabriel and 'himself'. There was one of Mohinder and Gabriel (he noticed his own hair had been left to grow quite a bit longer), engaged in mat-pats-on-the-arms and toasting beers to the camera. How could he EVER be so friendly with Gabriel? How could he ever be in the same room as him and not try to kill him? At this point, the whole mess seemed so out of the realms of possibility and plausibility that it made him consider if this was all a big prank, or some kind of attempt to trick him, but that didn't sit comfortably with him.

There were images of her and her family, and Peter & Co standing outside a small building with a banner over the door that read 'open today' over the door. Pictures of them posing for pictures with leading US political figures and even one with what looked like a man who would be the President. Newpaper clippings were stuck on top of each other as something known as 'clinics' opened through America before being taken on internationally.

Pictures of his wedding, one he had never experienced, pictures of his mother, aging and frail but still beaming and serene. He got a pang of homesickness for a second. It seemed he and Abi had travelled through India for three months, going to all the places they wished they had been and never got to go, before finishing off the grand tour with their nuptials in his home in Chennai. They had honeymooned to China, and there were pictures of snow-capped mountains before it suddenly stopped. There was an image that looked like a police forensic shot of a hand, messily severed at just below the wrist. The hand was a familiar bronze and the scar on the thumb made his stomach turn – it was his. He wondered if she had severed it in her sickness, but a messy handwritten note at the bottom of the page blamed Danko and 'fifty guns'. He had been slain in the future by that bald menace only a few days into his honeymoon.

Oh god. He had actually married the basket job. His stomach churned as he felt himself (or future self) hit an all-time low. He would rather marry Maya than have anything to do with this (both were thoughts he shuddered at). As he came to the end of the book he gripped the chair arm so hard it snapped off. What the hell was he going to tell Bennet? He was screwed.

A few days later in the same hotel, Noah suspected nothing about Gabriel and Claire - much to their relief. They met for breakfast and Noah said that he'd received a call from the office back home. Huge energy waves and light anomalies had been sighted from random locations close together in the Nevada desert. They all knew that it would be Abi. They all knew she had to be neutralised. Noah and Kelly would call in at Gwin's to explain the situation and postpone the negotiations until they can return to the UK. The others would pack and make ready for a spontaneous return to the States. Claire was disappointed, they had been there for a couple of weeks and she was thoroughly enjoying her holiday, er, work trip, wishing she could stay a little longer and see the rest of the sights in London, she'd only been around half the tourist sites, and she was worried that now things were going so well between Noah and Gwin she wouldn't get to come back.

Noah left the table early, going outside and looking like a plain ordinary business man making a plain ordinary business call. Gwin understood perfectly and sounded very sympathetic on the phone and offered Morgan's services. Noah considered this for a moment, a Special with super strength and proportional invulnerability might come in handy for handling a super-powered nutcase. He thought it might be good for relations and accepted gracefully. She said that Morgan would meet them at the airport and they would all fly together and furthermore, Gwin would be booking the flights. He figured it couldn't be too hard, after all, Morgan was difficult to miss.


	10. Chapter 10 The Cause of the Effects

Warnings: bitty, oc, fluff, bit wtf, super powered violence

**Chapter ten. **

A lot of the heroes were glad to be home as they stepped off the plane and made their way sedately into the airport. Morgan sniffed the air curiously as she stepped out. She had never been to America before and was curious about the land. The airport staff stared considerably at her tattoos which where unashamedly unhidden from the world. She got asked by one person if she was from New Zealand, to which she replied curtly, but politely 'no'. Gabriel had no trouble getting through customs using Sylar's passport that he forged and transformed into his brother, minus the disability. The computer did flag, but then he suspected that the FBI had sent an override on it due to the fact Sylar had threatened to sue them for harassment they were not to pursue him at all. He smirked to himself as the customs man let him through and Claire soon followed, the sweet little former-cheerleader having no problem passing the gate. Morgan, as was imagined, was a different story. Her documents where checked several times, she had a photo taken of her, her fingerprints done and then asked to 'follow them' into a small side room where she was questioned interviewed and had to call back home for a sponsor to tell them that she was who she said she was.

She got out about an hour later, scowling and very aggravated. Apparently they had a difficult time understanding her upbringing, why there were so few official records of her existence; she thought that they just couldn't get over the way she looked. She was taller than most of them, more muscular than the guards, and covered from head to toe in blue tattoos.

"Problems?" Noah asked lightly, with a little knowing and irritating smile. She scowled and walked ahead, carrying her suitcase.

It really didn't take them that long to find Abi. Company agents had already established several wide perimeters, and coming over the final ridge, the two in the front cabin of the black van that was transporting everyone (including a Gabriel-in-disguise), could see flashes of bright and intense light sparking up often and irregularly. Soon wild screams of pain and torment permeated the walls of the van, and Melody's ability that had been soaked up by her manic future-daughter, rippled across the desert sands and everyone's hair stood on end. The guttural cries were born of agony upon agony and breakdown. It sounded as though her mind and body were fracturing, disjointedly. Noah was constantly on the radio to his other teams that were simultaneously approaching the target, organising how this was going to go down, with an A, B C and D plan. They didn't call him The Man With The Plan(s) for nothing.

The van struggled a little to make it up the last ridge and Gabriel, whose ears were bleeding with the noise of the poor engine, gave the van a subtle little booster and with an unexpected jerk they all finally arrived at their destination, Morgan bumping her head on the roof of the van, but did not look fazed. Indeed the van was slightly dented where the bump had occurred and Peter, who was seated beside her, shuffled a little away from her. Claire was sure she could see a tiny amused little smirk on her face as he did this and thought that perhaps the strange woman did do humour after all.

The doors flew open, and the Specials crowded out of the slightly cramped van, amongst an organised flood of agents, all armed and armoured to the teeth for every possible contingency, and Noah would be calling up on all these contingencies in his alphabetised plans. Claire blinked as she gave herself time for her eyes to adjust to the harsh and uncompromising sunlight, added to by the flashes of even more intense light from the figure that was startlingly close. After having stayed in England for a few weeks, she wasn't used to this level of sunshine and heat and it took her a few moments to adjust. But she didn't look as bad as most of her travelling companions, especially Matt who had grown used to holing himself in small dank corners with a beer had no provision for a huge wide open desert with blazing sunshine. Morgan seemed to be the only one with foresight enough to bring sunglasses and she seemed as unaffected as ever amongst the heat, sun, agents and near-by Abi.

The bulk of the agents were not Special, and as such, were ordered to stay back and only come in as a last resort. Matt looked down at the screeching figure and cocked his head slightly, trying to gently pry his way into her mind without her noticing, or if she did, not to be offended by it and blow them all to kingdom come. His mind was stung back and a headache erupted violently and he physically recoiled. His mind was brought to a sudden calm when he felt two gentle hands on his shoulders. Kelly was helping him. Her eyes were closed serenely, and she was focussing on his mind, communing with it and sifting through the influx of maddening images that were coming to him. She sieved the extreme emotions out and took them into herself, leaving Matt with manageable thoughts and pictures that flashed up frequently.

All I wanted was help! He heard her scream.

I'm so sorry.

I'll massacre them all! I'll make it a bloodbath!

It's not fair! Why did it happen to me?

I really just wanted a milkshake...

I hate you, but why do I love you too?

I'll kill Nathan and Danko. Just them. They're the reason this is all happening!

I never asked to come here.

Why didn't you let me die with you?

The wave of open thoughts was overwhelming, even with Kelly's help, but he ploughed on. He found it was like swimming through treacle, heavy and he found the thoughts stuck to him like it too and were impossible to wash off for a while.

OH GOD HELP ME PLEASE! She screeched into his mind and his head stung.

"She's so unstable, these emotions are not normal..." Kelly said in a strained whisper. The burden was heavy already. He hoped to have done fishing soon, for both their sake. He pushed forward, trying to find an 'off-switch' somewhere when he felt an overwhelming force and a cry that shook him to his core.

GET OUT! She screamed and ejected him from her mind with an uncontrolled shove. He fell backwards and into the dust, with Kelly half catching him as he went down, a thin trickle of blood coming from her nose. Both were pulled away to the med team that was on standby, and Gabriel assumed his original shape.

"That still creeps me out, man." Peter said.

"Can't you be serious? Ever?" Mohinder questioned, and then rolled his eyes at the cute face he got from the younger man who seemed to have no idea what the scientist was talking about.

"We can't get in her mind, we need to try a different approach." Noah said, largely to himself, after all that much was obvious. He was wondering what modifications he would have to make to plan B.

"Peter, Morgan and I will go and confront her." Gabriel said, they looked at him like he was stupid. "She clearly doesn't have control of all her abilities, and it seemed that even ones she had before have gone mad too. If we can wear her out enough, we can either tranq her or your people can take her out."

"That might just work." Noah said slowly and cautiously, his mind still turning, but his eyes thinned in suspicion.

"She's your daughter, you ready to be part of the team that kills her?" Mohinder asked. He had been incredibly bitter about the acceptance of Gabriel onto their team and as far as he was concerned the man should die a painful and agonising death very, very soon. Perhaps this would be the chance to see that dream come true. He hoped so.

"She was meant to be _your_ fiancée." Gabriel responded, referring to the album and photograph they had all seen. Mohinder didn't want to say anything on the subject and kept his mouth shut. It was all highly embarrassing for him.

Noah took the scientist's silence as approval and began directing his people in place. Morgan told Noah she would need a few minutes to activate her ability to a sufficient level for combating Abi, and he agreed. She came over to Gabriel who was trying to have a tender moment with Claire.

"Gwin told me to give this to you if I believed you worthy of it. The effects are temporary." She said, as minimalistic as ever. She un-looped from her neck a small charm on a leather string, it was a Celtic horse design on one side of the pewter disk and a spiral on the other.

"What is it?" He asked. At first he thought it was just one of their superstitions, but as he pawed the object, he felt a strange power behind it and could see as it was being made by a bearded man and infused with a strange light by the pregnant woman.

"It contains a slither of her ability. It will allow you to access the abilities you lost to the Shanti virus." She explained.

"How does she know about that?" He demanded sharply.

"She's courted a lot of abilities in her time. I don't ask anymore." She said and retreated to a private spot for a little while, sitting on the ground, crossing her legs and closing her eyes to meditate. She had to pull her thoughts in, focus her mind and ready her body of she was to call upon her greatest strength and make her skin impenetrable.

He turned the small object over in his fingers repeatedly, trying to pinpoint the feeling he was getting from it, knowing that it was an ability made it a little easier, but he could not understand it and it drove him crazy. Eventually Claire closed her hands over his and made him stop. He looked as though he might lose his temper.

"If it does what she says, you had better put it on." She said mutely, and took it from him. He dipped his head and let her gently loop it around his neck. Impulsively she straightened it like she would be straightening a tie.

"I know you're nervous." He said to her.

"I am. Because I know what she did to you last time."

"I'm ready for her this time. Nothing is going to happen to me as long as you're here for me to crawl back to." He said. Her hands tightened around his shirt lapel.

"I know you'll be fine. But I'm still worried." She said, knowing quite how stupid it sounded.

"Claire?" He asked for her attention, the sort that demanded eye contact. She obliged. "I don't want you to watch. I've told you there are parts of my darker self that will never be gone. You'll see them in a moment. I don't want you to see it." He said, as though if she saw it, it would drive her away from him as she would be freshly reminded of the side of him that scalped her.

"I know that's a part of you. I'm not afraid of it. I've seen it for all its ugly glory and won't look away." She said. He closed his eyes and breathed as though he was free. "Though I think you'd better go, my dad's getting impatient." She said with a small smile. He passed Noah a sly glance, and then leaned in for a bold kiss. Claire knew he was doing it to annoy (and by annoy they meant enrage/ire/infuriate/make crazy) her father and in a little rebellion, pressed up against the lips in a crushing kiss. Most stared. Quite rudely. Peter's eyes were like saucers, Mohinder looked as though he was going to projectile vomit and Noah looked as though he might develop an ability then and there – to kill people with looks (his glasses would make his death beams more acute). Kelly patted West with her spare hand (the one not holding tissue to her nose), who looked as though the world had come to the saddest possible end. She had recalled him looking like this only once – when he watched Titanic for the first time and he cried like a girl at the end.

The kiss lasted far longer than intended, but both were quite enjoying the response they were getting. Not to mention it felt like one of those 'maybe the last time we can ever do this because one of us is going to die' kind of kisses, even though both of them knew they would essentially survive this skirmish.

"Claire..." Noah growled in his most restrained voice that was possible at that moment in time. Gabriel smiled into her lips and parted with her, whispering something known only to her, and then took off straight in the direction of Abi, partly while he was feeling the high of Claire's affection, and as a way to bypass a fuming Noah. It took Peter a few seconds to realise that he was now needed and sprung into action like a jack-in-the-box, down the hill and towards the flashes of light. Morgan stood calmly, as though unaware her hour was now, dusted down her canvas shorts, her skin neatly peppered with blue and broke into a run; long, strong strides picked up pace quickly and easily as she caught up with her companions and in a single leap, tossed herself into the air, flying as if propelled by an ability and raised her fists, clenched them together, and as she landed (right on top of Abi) brought them smashing down over her head.

Abi was sent sprawling in a cloud of heavy dust that made them cough and splutter. She had evaded the attack, but the shockwave of the power had sent her flying. As she tried to pick herself up, she was sent a screaming pulse of dazzling blue energy from the hands of Gabriel who seemed to have no compunction in trying to kill his own daughter. Then again, she had done the worst thing possible to him, so as far as he was concerned, she was disowned. She cried out in momentary pain before she consumed the blue in rainbow sparks and sent both back at him with furious viciousness.

It was Peter's turn and with an ability he had mimicked from a cute redhead in the club, he managed to get close enough to touch her hand with a tiny glance of a touch and her hand dropped, limp and numb. He didn't expect her to take it in her stride as though she had fought against that particular ability before and knocked him back with an invisible backhand. Morgan was right behind him and threw punches that would be enough to probably pop Abi's head open, and with no restraint in terms of reluctance to kill. She had a job to do and would do everything she could to make sure it got done; she had never been afraid to the dirty work. Abi evaded the punches, but it was taking all her concentration, for Morgan was by no means slowed by her incredible strength, and as Gabriel's skin knitted back together he felt surges of his old abilities rush back to him with such vivacity and warmth it was as though they had missed him. With a renewed sense of confidence he crouched to the ground and made a frozen stream up the rock towards her feet, and succeeded in catching her shoes and feet, pinning her to her spot. Morgan leapt out of the way of the cold stream and took a moment to contain herself, making sure she did not lose control and go on a rampage.

With a scream that sounded more terrified than enraged, Abi balled her one working hand into a fist and threw it to the ground with a shockwave following the motion and rumbling deep into the sands. A few seconds later the ground trembled and cracked, the divides growing as though two giant invisible hands were pushing them apart. Peter scrambled away from the crack, afraid to be swallowed and Gabriel retreated, noticing the cracks followed him until he was quite a distance away from the woman, throwing flashes of melting heat in her direction, hoping to get a lucky shot in. Morgan tried to dance around the newly-forming seams, but they followed her feet until the whole part gave away and she had to spring back with the force of her powerful legs adding to the crumble of the ground.

Abi was trying to defrost herself with bright orange flashes of heat, abut was having little success. Whimpering and crying out in frustration like a child she flung her one useful arm in the air to express her ire.

Watching in grim resignation from slightly above, Mohinder eyed her carefully, hoping she would go down, and quickly, maybe taking out Gabriel with her. Then a flash of white on her skin caught his eye and he demanded a pair of binoculars from the agent stood beside him. He jammed the lenses to his eyes, focussed the glass and found what he was looking for. Her arm and leg skin was exposed from the little top and long shorts she had been wearing. He frowned. Her skin had never looked like this before, mottled and badly tanned. Massively imperfect and heavily scarred – flesh he had never seen on her before. Matt had told him she had the ability to create illusions, and did it a lot, he just couldn't pinpoint what it was she was warping. This had to be it.

Peppered over her legs, arms and deep shoulders were, what could only be, bullet wound scars. Messy clumps of knotted scar tissue that hadn't healed into the rest of her fine skin and stood out like large white buttons on a tan coat. He counted many, a scar that warped her mouth slightly as it had obviously torn her cheek apart. Then he moved the lenses up slightly and everything began falling into place. The missing part of the puzzle; a thin, white, straight line that spanned her forehead, no longer hidden by her fringe or her illusionary powers. To his slight repulsion, the mark split the remains of the vermillion sindoor (the mark of married Hindu women) that remained from her wedding, as though her father had come between his future self and bride. This was a family feud that he did not want to become caught up in, but for some reason his connection with the two combatants (papa Gray and mini-Gray) had dragged him here.

Gabriel, probably in the future, has split her head open and harvested her abilities like an ordinary victim, like a stranger who meant nothing to him. No wonder her hatred was so irrationally strong, her anger was so implacable, her hurt so powerful. He had betrayed her in the worst way. He paused for a second to wonder how she survived the process (and indeed all those bullet wounds) without Claire's ability, which she clearly did not have, otherwise she would not be peppered with those mottled scars). Yet, his mind did not linger on this conundrum for long as his head was being slowly overcome by emotion and sympathy for her. He felt suddenly guilty for spurning her back in London when she had literally come to him begging for help, help that had been denied her ever since these horrible things had happened to her. He chastised himself for getting soft, trying to remind himself that she was a killer, like her father, without conscience and with a heavy dose of sadism, but his innate ability to see the best in people won again and he became determined to help her, try to make up for the rather cruel way in which he rejected her.

As she tried to defrost her feet, her control seemed to slip and what was just her hand glowing with orange, her whole arm was engulfed, and frightened she tried, vainly, to distance herself from her own appendage. Gabriel took this opportunity to shock her mercilessly with Elle's stolen ability until she was sure he could smell her flesh roasting. She howled in agony and betrayal and her tears turned to smoke with the intensity of the electrocution and she sank to the floor, her feet pinned to the ground by ice.


	11. Chapter 11 Help

Warnings: oc-centric, mild ooc, emotional hurt, physical agony, graphic violence/torture, FLUFFFFFF

**Chapter eleven. **

"DADDY HELP ME!" She screeched out with a projected power from an ability. Suddenly, an image appeared in the air above Melody, a huge picture that towered over them, a perfect view to everyone's eyes, the image was half real and half pressed into their minds.

Images of her wedding flashed up erratically, bits of film interspersed with still pictures, the memories beaming directly out of her mind as she relived them. They progressed to images of rural china and snow steeped mountains, and she was in flight; soaring above the caps of perfect crystal ice and through crags of jagged rock, she held her new husband's arm, dangling him, as though jokingly threatening to drop him. They could feel she was about to pull him up into her embrace as a deafening roar of automatic gun fire hounded their ears and sprays of blood erupted into the air, seeming to shower the whole desert in crimson. She was looking down as her future Mohinder was gunned to shreds, an unrelenting torrent of fifty guns reducing him to several hundred scarlet stains on the mountainside and all that was left was the hand still clasping hers, now leaking blood and sinew. The men were familiar looking, dressed as agents of the 26 Programme and laid on a ridge on the mountain path, waiting for when she dared to fly in this low. In horror she dropped the grim hand, seeing it plummet to the ground and then whipping her head to face the agents, her telekinesis having unconsciously kicked in to form a shield that protected her. With a single shaking flick of her hand she instigated an avalanche that buried the agents in a torrent of heavy, pure, screaming death. As her eyes went hazy and black, she saw Danko's face in the retreating helicopter...

Next they saw was Abi kicked brutally to the floor of her room where she was staying in China. Numerous more kicks and stamps rained down on her from above, to her gut, legs, shoulders, back and head. A lazy foot kicked her on her front and while they saw the mat floor through her eyes, they heard the eleven gunshots and felt where the bullets hit her body, though they felt none of the pain. She was poked onto her front by the same lazy foot and another twelve rounds stabbed her and ripped her open. This time her eyes were looking up, hazy and waterlogged, but all saw the bloody cold image – Danko. Shooting her with his own pistol, looking coldly satisfied as he was sure she stayed dead. Soon she blacked out again.

The following image was Gabriel's wretched face, looming over her, tear stained and distraught, cradling her. He spoke, but could not hear his voice and soon the two fingers came up to point to her head, and they heard him sawing her skull open. Blood sullied her vision and it became hazy, as though full of smoke. Her head came off, she could see it lying next to herself. Everyone felt the uncomfortable and eerie sensation in their brains as she relayed a tiny part of what it felt like to them from her mind. He poked and prodded for what seemed like forever when suddenly they psychically knew what was going on. He put the top of her head back on and watched, waiting expectantly. He had tried to _give_ her Claire's healing ability. Testing out a theory that was still just a theory and attempting to inject the cheerleader's gift into his dying daughter.

They saw disjointed images from over several months, images of a bedroom turned into her hospital ward, bandages and blood, family, friends, cries of agony.

"Before, my ability felt like a hundred tiny ants under my skin, desperately wanting to come out and work." They heard her voice and knew she was describing her ability.

"It feels like I've got pacmen in my brain chewing it up from the inside out." She said again, a different time from the previous comment, this time explaining how this felt, Gabriel's attempt to download an ability from one person to another.

"Hers and Gabriel's abilities are conflicting. She cannot process his ability, and therefore cannot integrate the healing gift into her own array of abilities." They heard the voice of Gwin tell a trembling Melody. They heard Melody screaming at Gabriel from behind a closed door. They saw Sylar, holding her hand, changing her bandages. Morgan, Gwin and Raewyn coming to visit her. Elle keeping watch for a few nights, all of it flashing before their eyes like a time-lapse film.

She was looking in the mirror, observing her scars, marring her skin and deforming her mouth. She touched the thin line above her brows and burst into tears.

"I don't have any of the healing left. It saved my life, left me patched up and burnt itself out. My body fought off dad's ability." Her voice said.

They were washed with a feeling of calm. A feeling she had experienced for a couple of months, and one that they knew was about to be shattered.

They watched the TV she was watching, she was cuddled into Sylar's lap, Gabriel and Melody toasting champagne and the President walking out to a gargantuan crowd, who went wild at his appearance. It was a speech that would set out the future for Specials in America. He had just finished the introduction when the image flashed bright orange and then static rolled over.

"Witnesses at the scene all confirm it was a Special who detonated, and killed the President." A shaken news anchor reported a few minutes later.

"Get your things, we have to go. Danko is coming." Melody said urgently, and they followed her up the stairs, to her room where she pulled out her case, stuffing her album and wedding photo in the front pocket and jogging down the stairs. She was too late, agents were in the house and a dozen rifles were pointed at her family's heads. As soon as Melody laid eyes on her daughter, she ran for her, glad to know she was safe (she had heard gunshots a second ago, they found themselves knowing). Someone had mistaken this as a dash for freedom and their overly trigger-happy finger squeezed the fatal rod. A single shot rang out and echoed deeply in the void of silence. Melody's body collapsed into her daughter, who didn't move, couldn't move to pick it up, wouldn't move to step away. She stood frozen, jammed, crashed like an overwhelmed computer. Her face was warm with blood and bits of her mother's head. They saw Nathan lower his smoking weapon immediately and turn ashen. Her lips were slightly parted, and her tongue instinctively edged out to lick her dry lips, and a pang of metallic taste shot through her. Sylar seemed to explode at this and with a furious gesture, ripped off the front of the house and sent it flying across the street, along with the agents and he wheeled himself out into the street, in a pathetic, awkward motion that was offset by his agonising waves of power.

Gabriel grabbed her and flew them away from the scene, later teleporting her to the past where she might have a life where she could forget all this and start again. Joined by her friend, Nina, the sad little German woman she had met a long time ago, whose family had been tortured and killed by Danko. They all saw her put a gun to her head and blow her own brains out after a few months in the past, unable to cope with the memories and survivor's guilt.

The images spluttered to an end and Abi was left lying on the ground, staring at the sky, crying silently and perfectly still. The crowd of agents and Specials were left in a dazed state of turmoil, having lived a tiny part everything they had just seen, and unable to raise a hand to hurt the woman who had already been hurt too much. Gabriel half considered putting the wretch out of her misery, but was unable to raise his hand, let alone the power. Stunned and sickened silence fell over the desert, no one was able to say anything, or find anything to say.

After what felt like forever of nauseous digesting of the information forced upon them, Mohinder made his way down the hill and to the still figure of Abi who looked too exhausted to even cry anymore, the tears just fell out of her without any expression on her face. He touched her hand and was careful to avoid the electric burns inflicted on her by Gabriel.

"I want to let it go. But I don't know how." She whispered, so quietly he barely made out what she said.

"Let me help you." He said.

"Please?" She begged him, knowing if he refused she would just give up the will to live there in the desert. He gently squeezed her hand and she felt the hundreds of ants underneath her skin quieten and fall into a slumber. Then she knew no more.

Two weeks later, Abi woke in a clean and airy private hospital room. Sylar, Melody and Gail had even come to the States to see her, and it was Gail who was with her when she woke.

"Hello." She said sweetly. Abi grunted in response, unsure how to use her vocal chords for a moment.

"The doctors said you shouldn't try to move, or you'll hurt yourself again." She said, as though parroting what the nurse had told her.

"Why can't I feel the ants?" She asked. She thought the little girl would look at her strangely, but instead she nodded solemnly, knowingly.

"Gwin came with us. She took all your abilities away. She says she'll give them back when you get better." She reported.

"I'd like to stay with her." Abi mused to herself. It made sense. If she was ever to go mad again, she would not be a threat to anyone else when the gentle lady could just neutralise her with a few fancy gestures.

"I think she wants you to go and sleep over at her house." Gail said, as though Gwin's invitation had been to a slumber party.

A couple of months after that little conversation Abi was safely installed in London, close to Gwin, in fact, working at the club, and back on her medication. Mohinder, true to his word, had come with her and lived with her, helping her whenever she began to have an episode or the rage was becoming irrational. Once they had settled in, Gabriel and Claire had come to visit, Claire was just spoiling for an excuse to come back to London and the club.

As Abi and Mohinder were clearing away the dishes from the dinner the four of them had shared (take out in the end), Claire and Gabriel had thought no one was looking when they thought to steal kisses from each other. Abi had walked in right at the inappropriate moment and dropped the glass of wine she was going to offer. Her partner came rushing in, wondering what he was going to have to deal with this time, but all he saw was innocent shock on Abi's face.

"What?" Claire demanded hotly after an awkward few moments. Another few moments.

"I...This never happened in my time." She said eventually. "You got with...someone else." She chose her words delicately, and Gabriel passed her a thin-eyed look of suspicion.

"Who?" The blonde woman asked, also now suspiciously curious.

"It's probably best I don't tell you. You'd probably freak out." She replied and Claire scoffed.

"I'm together with the one man I thought I'd hate forever, what's going to be freakier than that?" She said. Gabriel forced himself to ignore the comment and not take the insult she did not mean to offer. Abi shook her head vehemently.

"It doesn't matter now, though does it?" She said quickly. "You two look happy enough, who am I to plant the seeds of doubt?" She said and backed away from the situation rapidly – right into Mohinder and accidently bowled him back into the kitchen.

You so would freak out if you knew you and Peter were getting married in my future. Gabriel heard her think. He physically balked and Claire looked at him strangely. He shook his head as if to shake the look off and tried to calm himself. She obviously hadn't heard Abi's stray thought. All the better he thought.

Once normality had been resumed and Claire had stopped passing suspicious looks at Gabriel for knowing what was going on and not telling her, Abi decided to bring something up.

"Claire, in my time we developed a programme known simply as Clinics that eventually went national. It was a place where Specials could go for advice, support and active help. We helped people control their abilities. I heard The Company has been doing quite a bit of that." She said, and looked to Mohinder to indicate where she had got the information.

"Yes." Claire replied, the concealed information forgotten now that they were on a topic close to her heart. "I've been trying to get my dad to look into something like that, you see that's the problem we're finding with most Specials. They just help learning how to control their abilities and once that's done, they're fine, not a danger to anyone." She said, enthusiastically.

"That's where they started back in my time." Abi said happily. She enjoyed reminiscing about her past/future that didn't involve the bloodshed that dominated the last year of her future life.

"What exactly did you do? Maybe I could get some pointers..."

**AN: Thank you to those who stuck through to the end with this story. My updating has been shameful and I apologise to those who I made wait. I hope you enjoyed the story, especially now that it has an end! Special thanks to Addicted to Blaize.Z 3 who added this and spurred me on to post the remaining chapters. Many thanks again, BTI xx**


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